Medicaid Expansion and Cancer Mortality by Race and Sex in Louisiana

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the association between Medicaid expansion in Louisiana and cancer mortality by race and sex. Data from the National Vital Statistics System mortality files were used to quantify deaths from cancer between 2010 and 2019 for Louisiana and a sample of states that had yet to adopt the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion as of December 2019. A series of population-weighted comparative interrupted time series models were estimated to determine whether Louisiana's Medicaid expansion was associated with reduced cancer mortality. Analyses were conducted in May 2021-August 2021. Medicaid expansion was associated with an average of 3.3 (95% CI= -6.4, -0.1; p=0.045) fewer quarterly cancer deaths per 100,000 Black female Louisiana residents and an average of 5.8 (95% CI= -10.4, -1.1; p=0.015) fewer quarterly cancer deaths per 100,000 Black male residents. There were no statistically significant changes in cancer mortality for White people in Louisiana associated with Medicaid expansion. Following expansion, the Black-White mortality gap in cancer deaths declined by approximately 57% for female individuals (4.6-2.0) and 49% for male individuals (10.1-5.2). Medicaid expansion in Louisiana was associated with a reduction in cancer mortality for Black female and male adults. Estimates of the association between Medicaid expansion and cancer mortality in Louisiana directly relate to the potential impacts for states that have yet to adopt Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which are primarily located in the Southern U.S.