Improved access to health care in Massachusetts after 2006 Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law is associated with a significant decrease in mortality among vascular surgery patients.

BACKGROUND: Access to medical care, by adequate insurance coverage, has a direct impact on outcomes for patients undergoing vascular procedures. We evaluated in-hospital mortality for patients undergoing index vascular procedures before and after the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law (MHRL) in 2006, which mandated insurance for all Massachusetts residents, both in Massachusetts and throughout the United States.

METHODS: The National Inpatient Sample was queried to identify patients undergoing interventions for peripheral arterial disease, carotid artery stenosis, and abdominal aortic aneurysms based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification procedural and diagnostic codes. The cohort was then divided into patients treated within Massachusetts (MA) and non-Massachusetts (NMA) hospitals. Two time intervals were examined: before (2003-2006, P1) and after the MHRL (2007-2011, P2). The primary outcome of interest included in-hospital mortality. Patients in MA and NMA hospitals were described in terms of demographics and presentation by time interval (P2 vs P1) compared using χ2 and t-tests. Weighted logistic regression with term modeling change in the odds ratio (OR) for P2 was performed to test and to estimate trends in mortality. Time (year of procedure) and region interactions were investigated by inclusion of time-region interactions in our analyses. Subgroup analysis was performed for P2 vs P1 among nonwhite, nonelderly, and low-income patients.

RESULTS: We identified 306,438 patients who underwent repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, lower extremity bypass, or carotid endarterectomy in MA and NMA hospitals. MA hospital patients had an increase in both Medicaid and private insurance status after the MHRL (P1 = 2.6% and 21% vs P2 = 3.3% and 21.7%, respectively; P = .034). In-hospital mortality trended down for all groups across the entire study. In comparing P2 vs P1 trends, MA hospital odds of mortality per year was lowered by 26% (OR, 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56-0.99; P = .042) not seen in NMA hospitals (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.97-1.09; P = .405). Time and region interaction terms indicated significant time trend difference in both unadjusted (P = .031) and adjusted (P = .033) analysis in MA hospitals not observed in NMA hospitals. This pattern continued when the samples were stratified by procedure. Patients undergoing vascular procedures in MA hospitals had a significantly lowered OR of mortality, with fewer patients presenting at late disease stages in P2 vs P1. Nonelderly patients in Massachusetts, who benefit from the Medicaid expansion provided by the MHRL, had a profound 92% drop in odds of mortality in P2 vs P1 (OR, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.010-0.641; P = .017) compared with the 14% drop in NMA (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.709-1.032; P = .103).

CONCLUSIONS: The 2006 MHRL is associated with a decrease in mortality for patients undergoing index vascular surgery procedures in MA compared with NMA hospitals. This study suggests that governmental policy may play a key role in positively affecting the outcomes for patients.