Insurance tied to survival odds in head/neck cancers
Source: www.reuters.com Author: staff People with cancers of the head or neck seem to have better survival odds if they have private health insurance, research hints. Head and neck cancers include cancers of the mouth, throat, nasal cavity, salivary glands and lymph nodes of the neck. Most cases are linked to smoking, with excessive drinking being the other major risk factor. But while those habits may raise the odds of developing head and neck cancers, the new findings, reported in the journal Cancer, suggest that insurance coverage influences the odds of surviving. Researchers found that among more than 1,200 patients treated at the Pittsburgh Medical Center between 1998 and 2007, those with private insurance had better survival rates than those with no insurance, as well as patients on Medicaid or Medicare disability. Medicaid is the federal health insurance program for the poor; Medicare disability covers people younger than 65 who cannot work because of a serious disability or illness. In this study, patients who were uninsured or on Medicaid were 50 percent more likely to die than privately insured patients. Those on Medicare disability had a 69 percent higher risk of dying -- with factors such as age, race, income and smoking and drinking history taken into account. Instead, the poorer survival seemed to be partly explained by later diagnosis. People without private insurance generally had more-advanced cancer by the time they saw a doctor, according to the researchers, led by Joseph Kwok of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. [...]