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Two-year Trends in Cancer Screening Among Low Socioeconomic Status Women in an HMO-based High-deductible Health Plan

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ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Cancer screening is often fully covered under high-deductible health plans (HDHP), but low socioeconomic status (SES) women still might forego testing.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the impact of switching to a HDHP on breast and cervical cancer screening among women of low SES.

DESIGN

Pre-post with comparison group.

PARTICIPANTS

Four thousand one hundred and eighty-eight health plan members enrolled for one year before and up to two years after an employer-mandated switch from a traditional HMO to an HMO-based HDHP, compared with 9418 propensity score matched controls who remained in HMOs by employer choice. Both groups had low outpatient copayments. High-deductible members had full coverage of mammography and Pap smears, but $500 to $2000 individual deductibles for most other services. HMO members had full coverage of cancer screening and low copayments for other services without any deductible. We stratified analyses by SES.

INTERVENTION

Transition to a HDHP.

MAIN MEASURES

Annual breast and cervical cancer screening rates; rates of annual preventive outpatient visits.

KEY RESULTS

In follow-up years 1 and 2, low SES HDHP members experienced no statistically detectable changes in rates of breast cancer screening (ratio of change, 1.14, 95 % CI, [0.93,1.40] and 1.05, [0.80,1.37], respectively) or preventive visits (difference-in-differences, +1.9 %, [−11.9 %,+17.7 %] and +10.1 %, [−9.4 %,+33.7 %], respectively) relative to HMO counterparts. Similarly, among low SES HDHP members eligible for cervical cancer screening, no significant changes occurred in either screening rates (1.01, [0.86,1.20] and 1.08, [0.86,1.35]) or preventive visits (+0.2 %, [−11.4 %,+13.3 %] and −1.4 %, [−18.1,+18.6]). Patterns were statistically similar for high SES members.

CONCLUSION

During two follow-up years, transition to an HMO-based HDHP with coverage of primary care visits and cancer screening did not lead to differentially lower rates of breast and cervical cancer screening or preventive visits for low SES women. Generalizability is limited to commercially insured women transitioning to HDHPs with low cost-sharing for cancer screening and primary care visits, a common design.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the helpful assistance with data collection of Irina Miroshnik, MS, of the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Department of Population Medicine. Dr. Wharam affirms that everyone who contributed significantly to the work is acknowledged here.

This study was funded by a grant from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.

Dr. Wharam presented interim results from this study on May 14, 2009 at the Society of General Internal Medicine national meeting in Miami, Florida

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to J. Frank Wharam MB, BCh, BAO, MPH.

Additional information

Dr. Wharam’s salary was supported by the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute Department of Population Medicine. This research was funded by a faculty grant from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.

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Wharam, J.F., Graves, A.J., Zhang, F. et al. Two-year Trends in Cancer Screening Among Low Socioeconomic Status Women in an HMO-based High-deductible Health Plan. J GEN INTERN MED 27, 1112–1119 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-012-2057-x

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