Recurrent Shoulder Instability: Do Morbidity and Treatment Differ Based on Insurance?

Patients with public insurance often face barriers to obtaining prompt orthopaedic care. For patients with recurrent traumatic anterior shoulder instability, delayed care may be associated with increasing bone loss and subsequently more extensive surgical procedures.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether differences exist in patients undergoing treatment for shoulder instability between those with Medicaid versus non-Medicaid insurance. We hypothesized that at the time of surgery, Medicaid patients would have experienced greater delays in care, would have a more extensive history of instability, would have more bone loss, and would require more extensive surgical procedures than other patients.

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Patients were identified who underwent surgical stabilization for traumatic anterior shoulder instability between January 1, 2011, and December 1, 2015, at a single sports medicine practice. Clinic, billing, and operative records were reviewed for each patient to determine age, sex, insurance type, total number of instability episodes, time from first instability episode to surgery, intraoperative findings, and procedure performed. Glenoid bone loss was quantified by use of preoperative imaging studies.

During this time period, 206 patients (55 Medicaid, 131 private insurance, 11 Tricare, 9 workers' compensation) underwent surgical stabilization for traumatic anterior shoulder instability. Average wait time from initial injury to surgery was 1640 days (95% CI, 1155-2125 days) for Medicaid patients compared with 1237 days (95% CI, 834-1639 days) for others (P = .005). Medicaid patients were more likely to have sustained 5 or more instability events at the time of surgery (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.64-6.69; P = .001), had a higher risk of having 15% or more glenoid bone loss on preoperative imaging (OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.3-10.0; P = .01), and had a higher risk of requiring Latarjet or other open stabilization procedures as opposed to an arthroscopic repair (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.5-6.2; P = .002) when compared with other patients.

Among patients undergoing surgery for traumatic anterior shoulder instability, patients with Medicaid had significantly more delayed care. Correspondingly, they reported a more extensive history of instability, were more likely to have severe bone loss, and required more invasive stabilization procedures.