Article
Brain Tumor Patients Fare Poorly if Uninsured or on Medicaid, Study Reports
Brain tumor patients who are uninsured or use Medicaid stay hospitalized longer and develop more medical complications than those with private insurance, University of Florida Health researchers have found.
Brain tumor patients who are uninsured or use Medicaid stay hospitalized longer and develop more medical complications than those with private insurance, University of Florida Health researchers have found.
The uninsured and Medicaid patients were also at greater risk of developing a new medical condition in the hospital and 25% more likely to die during their stay, according to a study published online February 18 in the journal Neurosurgery. Those same patients ended up in a nursing home, rehabilitation center or hospice more frequently than people who had private insurance. For the study, the researchers analyzed nationwide data from 566,346 hospital admissions involving brain tumor cases between 2002 and 2011.
People who are uninsured or use Medicaid also are less likely to benefit from early detection of brain tumors because they have less access to health care than those with private insurance, said Dr Kristopher G. Hooten, a resident in the UF College of Medicine’s department of neurosurgery and the study’s lead author.
Link to the press release by The University of Forida:
