The ACA has helped eliminate disparities in cancer care and connect patients to treatment earlier, according to two new studies cited by Newsweek.
In one study, researchers from New Haven, Conn.-based Yale Cancer Center analyzed 2011-19 EHR data on 30,386 patients using a database from the healthcare technology company Flatiron Health. Researchers found black patients with advanced or metastatic cancer were 4.8 percentage points less likely than white patients to start treatment within a month of diagnosis. However, in states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA, the percentage of black patients receiving treatment within 30 days increased by 6.1 points to 49.6 percent.
In the second study, researchers at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University found that women with ovarian cancer were more likely to receive an early diagnosis and start treatment within a month of diagnosis after the ACA was passed, according to OncLive.
Both studies were presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.