Effect of insurance status on pain medication prescriptions in a hematology/oncology practice

To determine whether insurance status (payer class) affects the amount and type of pain medication prescribed, and whether patients in those groups without prescription drug coverage received lower-cost medications, a case-control study with retrospective chart review was initiated in a university-based hematology/oncology practice in northwest Louisiana. Charts of 710 active patients among all insurance groups (private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, State Hospital System) were analyzed to determine insurance status, pain medication (amount and type), and diagnosis. The proportion of Medicaid patients receiving pain medications was significantly increased in relation to their representation in the practice when compared with Medicare patients, patients with private insurance, uninsured patients whose health care costs were provided by the State Hospital System, and the overall patient population. Medicaid patients, especially those with solid tumor malignancies, received the most expensive class of pain medications at a significantly higher rate than other patients. In the studied population of hematology and oncology patients, there is a significant difference in the amount and type of pain medications prescribed between patients with prescription drug coverage (Medicaid) and those without (all other groups including those covered by the statewide system). We propose that consideration be given to alternative methods of financing prescription medications for medically indigent patients.