Effects of Medicaid managed care on early detection of cancer: Evidence from mandatory Medicaid managed care program in Pennsylvania

Objective

To examine changes in late- versus early-stage diagnosis of cancer associated with the introduction of mandatory Medicaid managed care (MMC) in Pennsylvania.

Data Sources and Study Setting

We analyzed data from the Pennsylvania cancer registry (2010–2018) for adult Medicaid beneficiaries aged 21–64 newly diagnosed with a solid tumor. To ascertain Medicaid and managed care status around diagnosis, we linked the cancer registry to statewide hospital-based facility records collected by an independent state agency (Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council).

Study Design

We leveraged a natural experiment arising from county-level variation in mandatory MMC in Pennsylvania. Using a stacked difference-in-differences design, we compared changes in the probability of late-stage cancer diagnosis among those residing in counties that newly transitioned to mandatory managed care to contemporaneous changes among those in counties with mature MMC programs.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

N/A.

Principal Findings

Mandatory MMC was associated with a reduced probability of late-stage cancer diagnosis (−3.9 percentage points; 95% CI: −7.2, −0.5; p = 0.02), particularly for screening-amenable cancers (−5.5 percentage points; 95% CI: −10.4, −0.6; p = 0.03). We found no significant changes in late-stage diagnosis among non-screening amenable cancers.

Conclusions

In Pennsylvania, the implementation of mandatory MMC for adult Medicaid beneficiaries was associated with earlier stage of diagnosis among newly diagnosed cancer patients with Medicaid, especially those diagnosed with screening-amenable cancers. Considering that over half of the sample was diagnosed with late-stage cancer even after the transition to mandatory MMC, Medicaid programs and managed care organizations should continue to carefully monitor receipt of cancer screening and design strategies to reduce barriers to guideline-concordant screening or diagnostic procedures.