Researchers evaluating the effect of Massachusetts' 2006 insurance expansion found access to minimally invasive surgery procedures for nonwhite patients increased after its implementation, according to a study in JAMA Surgery.
The study evaluated Medicaid and uninsured patients who received operations for acute appendicitis or cholecystitis between 2001 and 2009 in Massachusetts and six other states.
Prior to the Massachusetts healthcare reform law, nonwhite patients were more than 5 percent less likely to receive minimally invasive surgery in all states. After the reform law was implemented in 2006, nonwhite patients in Massachusetts had an equal probability of receiving minimally invasive surgery compared to white patients.
Researchers concluded the insurance expansion was associated with resolution of racial disparities in surgical care for Medicaid and uninsured patients.
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