American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2010
Review Meta AnalysisAn official American Thoracic Society systematic review: insurance status and disparities in lung cancer practices and outcomes.
Insurance coverage is an important determinant of access to care and is one potential cause of disparities in lung cancer care outcomes. ⋯ Patients with Medicaid or no insurance consistently had worse outcomes than other patients with lung cancer. Some of the disparities may be secondary to residual confounding from smoking and other health behaviors, but available data suggest that patients with lung cancer without insurance do poorly because access to care is limited and/or they present with more advanced disease that is less amenable to treatment.