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. 2014 Sep;104(9):e62-70.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301969. Epub 2014 Jul 17.

Role of health insurance on the survival of infants with congenital heart defects

James E Kucik  1 , Cynthia H Cassell, Clinton J Alverson, Pamela Donohue, Jean Paul Tanner, Cynthia S Minkovitz, Jane Correia, Thomas Burke, Russell S Kirby
Affiliations

Role of health insurance on the survival of infants with congenital heart defects

James E Kucik et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the association between health insurance and survival of infants with congenital heart defects (CHDs), and whether medical insurance type contributed to racial/ethnic disparities in survival.

Methods: We conducted a population-based, retrospective study on a cohort of Florida resident infants born with CHDs between 1998 and 2007. We estimated neonatal, post-neonatal, and infant survival probabilities and adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) for individual characteristics.

Results: Uninsured infants with critical CHDs had 3 times the mortality risk (AHR = 3.0; 95% confidence interval = 1.3, 6.9) than that in privately insured infants. Publicly insured infants had a 30% reduced mortality risk than that of privately insured infants during the neonatal period, but had a 30% increased risk in the post-neonatal period. Adjusting for insurance type reduced the Black-White disparity in mortality risk by 50%.

Conclusions: Racial/ethnic disparities in survival were attenuated significantly, but not eliminated, by adjusting for payer status.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Kaplan-Meier survival curves by insurance category for infants with (a) critical congenital heart defects and (b) noncritical congenital heart defects: Florida, 1998–2007
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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