Persistent health inequities in self-payment for outpatient dermatology visits

Abstract

To the Editor: Uninsured patients have worse outcomes than insured patients, presenting with advanced-staged melanomas, delayed treatments, and longer hospitalizations.1,2 With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expanding health care access in the United States,3 we hypothesized a corresponding decrease in the number of self-pay visits. Our objective was to analyze patient demographics and trends in self-payment for outpatient medical dermatology visits.