New Cancer Findings from Anuraag R. Kansal and Colleagues Discussed (State Medicaid Budgetary Implications of New Cancers): Cancer

2026 SEP 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Cancer are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Menlo Park, California, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The burden of a new cancer diagnosis on state Medicaid programs is not well understood. Our study aimed to (1) quantify Medicaid program spending, use of health care services, and enrollment patterns among Medicaid beneficiaries newly diagnosed with cancer; and (2) assess how spending and health care use differ between a new metastatic and a new nonmetastatic cancer diagnosis. Cross-sectional study.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research, “This study used Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System Analytic Files (2016-2019) to identify Medicaid beneficiaries 50 years and older who were newly diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and 2018. We provide descriptive evidence about their use of health care resources and used linked Medicare-Medicaid claims to follow enrollment patterns among dual-eligible beneficiaries. We also used generalized estimating equations to compare Medicaid program spending among those diagnosed with a new metastatic vs nonmetastatic cancer. Study measures were differences in total Medicaid spending, hospitalizations and emergency department visits per year, and Medicaid enrollment status at the end of the study (ie, continuously enrolled, disenrolled, or died) by metastatic status. We identified 291,014 new cancer diagnoses among Medicaid beneficiaries 50 years and older (18.8% metastatic vs 81.2% nonmetastatic). A metastatic cancer diagnosis was associated with higher hospitalizations, emergency department use, and spending compared with a nonmetastatic cancer diagnosis. Our results quantify the cost and health care resource utilization burden borne by state Medicaid programs following a new cancer diagnosis.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “These findings can inform policy makers about the budgetary considerations associated with investing in reducing late-stage cancer diagnoses, such as through early detection and increased access to care.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: State Medicaid Budgetary Implications of New Cancers. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2026;32(7). The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Anuraag R. Kansal, GRAIL LLC, Menlo Park, CA. Additional authors for this research include Amanda C. Chen and David C. Grabowski.

The publisher of the The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)