Effect of federal and state policy changes on racial/ethnic variation in immediate postmastectomy breast...

Breast reconstruction after mastectomy has been shown to provide substantial clinical and psychosocial benefits for many patients; however, disparities in the use of immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction persist. Using the unique dataset from the New York State Inpatient Database, the following developments were studied: (1) trends in immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction between 1998 and 2006 among white, African American, and Hispanic women; (2) factors associated with its use; and (3) changes in racial/ethnic variation in immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction before and after implementation of the New York State Medicaid expansion in 2001.

A step-in multivariable logistic regression model was used to assess the effect of race/ethnicity, age, mastectomy type, number of comorbidities, socioeconomic status, and insurance on the probability of undergoing immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction. Then, adjusted immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction rates for before and after Medicaid expansion were predicted, stratified by race/ethnicity.

The probability of undergoing immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction increased (p < 0.001); however, even with Medicaid expansion occurring during the 8 years studied, gaps in use between white and African American women and between white and Hispanic women increased by 6 percent (95% CI, 0.07 to 0.05) and 5 percent (95% CI, 0.07 to 0.04), respectively. Being younger, having greater income and education, and having private health insurance are associated with a greater probability of immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction.

These findings indicate that expanding safety-net policies such as Medicaid without providing support such as consultation or health literacy education might not be effective in reducing disparities in health care.

Risk, III.