Resource Disparities in Treating Persons With Disabilities for Four Common Cancers

Abstract

This study explored whether cumulative Medicare outlays on breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer treatment differ between persons with versus without disabilities. The authors used linked Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results—Medicare data to compute reimbursements between cancer cases originally entitled to Medicare because of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and those receiving Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) benefits. They examined differential outlays between these two subgroups by Medicare Part A and Part B services and by treatment phase to gauge whether disability-related resource disparities occur. The findings are mixed, with persons with disabilities treated for lung cancer most likely to experience such disparities. The SSDI subgroup had lower Part B outlays in all four cancers, but some of these were canceled out by higher Part A reimbursements.