A study published in Spine found Medicaid patients undergoing spine surgery have a higher rate of surgical site infection.
The researchers prospectively collected data from the Spine End Results Registry for patients with surgical site infections. SSI was defined as treatment requiring operative debridement. They also examined the surgical severity index risk factors, demographics and payer status.
There were 354 Medicare patients, 334 Medicaid patients, 39 Veterans' Administration patients, 603 private insurers and 42 self-pay patients. The researchers found patients with Medicaid had a 2.06 odds of SSI, when compared with privately insured patients.
There are also increased costs for patients with Medicaid payer status, and healthcare reform legislation seeks to expand Medicaid coverage in many states.
"The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 provisions could cause a reduction in reimbursement to the hospital for taking care of patients with Medicaid insurance due to their higher complication rates and higher costs," concluded the study authors. "This very issue could inadvertently limit access to care."
Medical literature also shows outcomes for Medicaid patients are worse and those patients have more complications on average than patients with private insurance.