Medicaid Expansion and Overall Survival of Lower Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients After Cytoreductive Surgery and Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy

In the United States, often only tertiary centers offer cytoreductive surgery and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS+HIPEC) for peritoneal metastases in advanced lower gastrointestinal malignancies. Growing evidence shows that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 enhanced healthcare access and outcomes.

We sought to determine whether Medicaid expansion was associated with decreased all-cause mortality of lower gastrointestinal cancer patients following CRS+HIPEC.

We analyzed data from the National Cancer Database (2010–2019) on lower gastrointestinal cancer patients who underwent CRS+HIPEC. Medicaid expansion, introduced under the ACA in 2010, extends health insurance to low-income adults. We categorized states by expansion timing: early (2010–2013), immediate (January 2014), late (after January 2014), or no expansion to assess the impact of Medicaid expansion on mortality using a multivariable Cox regression model.

Of the 1001 study patients, 671 (67%) were diagnosed in Medicaid expansion states. Grade and Medicaid expansion status were the only factors independently associated with overall survival on multivariable analysis. On average, patients in Medicaid expansion states experienced a 4% increase in annual survival compared with those in non-expansion states who had a 1% decrease in annual survival over the study period.

Patients from states that had an early expansion of Medicaid and patients with lower-grade tumors had significantly better overall survival. Our study findings suggest that improved access to healthcare through Medicaid expansion was associated with increased survival rates of lower gastrointestinal cancer patients who undergo CRS+HIPEC for the treatment of peritoneal metastases.