Examining Impact of Insurance Type on Genetic Testing in Pediatric Neurology

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Neurology
• Medical Genetics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Limited research exists on how insurance type impacts genetic testing accessibility.
• Understanding these disparities is crucial for equitable healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the influence of different health insurance types on the time to obtain genetic test results.
• To compare genetic testing turnaround times between pediatric neurology patients with Medicaid versus private insurance.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study including 141 pediatric neurology patients.
• Data collected from January 1, 2014, to March 1, 2023, at Dayton Children's Hospital.
• Analysis of demographics, insurance data, and genetic testing results, comparing Medicaid and private insurance groups.

Main Results:

• Most patients were male (51.8%), white (78.0%), and not Hispanic/Latino (96.5%), with a mean age of 7.9 years.
• Medicaid was the primary insurance for 60.3% of patients, compared to 39.7% with private insurance.
• No statistically significant difference in mean time from test order to results date between Medicaid (27.3 days) and private insurance (31.5 days) patients (P=0.40).

Conclusions:

• The average time to receive genetic test results is comparable for pediatric neurology patients with public (Medicaid) versus private insurance.
• Findings suggest insurance type does not significantly impact genetic testing turnaround times in this population.
• This indicates equitable access to timely genetic testing results regardless of insurance status for pediatric neurology care.