Impact of health care insurance on overall survival of patients with multiple myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance

Abstract

Aim: Health care insurance improves access to care and thus outcome in patients with solid tumors. Little information on the impact of health care insurance on hematological malignancies including multiple myeloma exists. The authors aimed to analyze the effect of health care insurance on the survival of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA.

Methods: Two hundred fifty seven patients were reviewed, of which 208 had MM and 49 had MGUS.

Results: One hundred and seventy seven patients (69%) were funded and 80 (31%) were non-funded. Funded patients with MM had an overall survival (OS) of 6.2 years compared to 3.8 years for non-funded patients (P < 0.001). Survivals were not significantly affected by race or gender. The analysis demonstrates that funded patients with MM and MGUS patients have statistically significant increased OS compared to patients with no insurance.

Conclusion: This study showed that patients with multiple myeloma and MGUS with health care insurance have longer overall survival when compared to non-funded patients.

Keywords

Multiple myeloma / monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance / health care / health insurance / outcomes / survival

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