Increased Health Insurance Coverage Led To More Early Cancer Detection
By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- ASCO Perspective
"Cancer is most curable when it's detected at its earliest stages. While it is much too soon to identify the specific cause of this positive trend, or determine whether it is sustainable and will improve outcomes, it is indeed a step in the right direction," said ASCO President-Elect Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - An analysis of nearly 273,000 patients showed that between 2013 and 2014 there was a 1% increase in the percentage of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers diagnosed at the earliest, most treatable stage. Considering the thousands of people diagnosed with these cancers annually, a 1% increase in early-stage diagnosis could add up to a significant number of new cases and potentially lead to better outcomes.
Following full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this study is the first to explore changes in the proportion of cancers - those that can be detected through screening - diagnosed at stage I. The ACA has had a measurable impact on increasing the number of people with health insurance in the United States. The findings will be presented at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
"We know from previous research that lack of insurance typically results in diagnosis of cancer at a later, and usually less treatable, stage," said lead study author Xuesong Han, PhD, Strategic Director, Health Policy and Healthcare Delivery Research, American Cancer Society. "Although we only analyzed data from a limited timeframe, the fact that there appears to be a positive trend in diagnosis at an earlier stage in multiple cancers is an encouraging sign."
Keywords for this news article include: Cancer, Health Insurance, Diagnostics and Screening, American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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