The effect of Medicaid expansion on female gynecologic cancer-related inpatient admissions.

BACKGROUND

Mortality rate of female gynecologic cancer is higher among individuals without affordable health insurance.

OBJECTIVES

We determined the impact of Medicaid expansion on the number of female gynecologic-related cancer inpatient admissions in Virginia (VA) relative to North Carolina (NC), the latter of which did not expand Medicaid.

DESIGN

This quasi-experimental study was restricted to women between 18 and 64 years old admitted to general, acute, and short-term hospitals with gynecologic cancer.

METHODS

We used Poisson fixed-effect event study regression to examine differences in the predicted number of female gynecologic-related cancer admissions in the quarters before and after Medicaid expansion (implemented in January 2019) in VA, compared to the same period in NC.

RESULTS

Even though not significant, the predicted number of female gynecologic cancer-related inpatient admissions in VA increased by 4.8%, 4.9%, and 5.5% in the second, third, and fourth quarter of 2019, respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2019.

CONCLUSION

Medicaid expansion in VA increased access to health services for Medicaid members, possibly due to initial pent-up demand among uninsured individuals.