Findings in Glaucoma Reported from University of Michigan (Large Disparities in Receipt of Glaucoma Care between Enrollees in Medicaid and Those with…

Insurance Weekly News

Findings in Glaucoma Reported from University of Michigan (Large Disparities in Receipt of Glaucoma Care between Enrollees in Medicaid and Those with Commercial Health Insurance)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Eye Diseases and Conditions - Glaucoma. According to news reporting originating from Ann Arbor, Michigan, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "To determine whether the type of health insurance a patient possesses and a patient's race/ethnicity affect receipt of common tests to monitor open-angle glaucoma (OAG). Retrospective longitudinal cohort study."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of Michigan, "A total of 21 766 persons aged >= 40 years with newly diagnosed OAG between 2007 and 2011 enrolled in Medicaid or a large United States managed care network. We determined the proportion of patients with newly diagnosed OAG who underwent visual field (VF) testing, fundus photography (FP), other ocular imaging (OOI), or none of these tests within the first 15 months after initial OAG diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the extent by which health insurance type and race/ethnicity affected the odds of undergoing glaucoma testing. Odds ratios (OR) of undergoing VF testing, FP, OOI, or none of these tests in the 15 months after initial OAG diagnosis with 95% confidence intervals (CI). A total of 18 372 persons with commercial health insurance and 3394 Medicaid recipients met the study inclusion criteria. The proportions of persons with commercial health insurance with newly diagnosed OAG who underwent VF, FP, and OOI were 63%, 22%, and 54%, respectively, whereas the proportions were 35%, 19%, and 30%, respectively, for Medicaid recipients. Compared with those with commercial health insurance, Medicaid recipients were 234% more likely to not receive any glaucoma testing in the 15 months after initial diagnosis (OR = 3.34; 95% CI, 3.07-3.63). After adjustment for confounders, whites with OAG enrolled in Medicaid had 198% higher odds of receiving no glaucoma testing compared with whites possessing commercial health insurance (OR = 2.98; 95% CI, 2.66-3.33). Blacks with Medicaid insurance demonstrated 291% higher odds (OR = 3.91; 95% CI, 3.40-4.49) of not receiving any glaucoma testing compared with blacks with commercial health insurance. Irrespective of race/ethnicity, Medicaid recipients with OAG are receiving substantially less glaucoma testing compared with persons with commercial health insurance. Disparities in testing are observed across all races/ethnicities but were most notable for blacks. These findings are particularly disconcerting because blacks are more likely than whites to go blind from OAG and there are disproportionately more blacks in Medicaid."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Efforts are needed to improve the quality of glaucoma care for Medicaid recipients, especially racial minorities."

For more information on this research see: Large Disparities in Receipt of Glaucoma Care between Enrollees in Medicaid and Those with Commercial Health Insurance. Ophthalmology, 2017;124(10):1442-1448. Ophthalmology can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, 360 Park Ave South, New York, NY 10010-1710, USA. (Springer - www.springer.com; Ophthalmology - www.springerlink.com/content/2193-6528/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J.D. Stein, University of Michigan, Sch Public Hlth, Dept. of Hlth Management & Policy, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, United States. Additional authors for this research include C. Andrews, D.C. Musch, P.P. Lee and A.R. Elam.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2017.05.003. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, North and Central America, Health Insurance, Diagnostics and Screening, Eye Diseases and Conditions, Health Policy, Medicaid, Glaucoma, University of Michigan.