A lower percentage of nonelderly people with newly diagnosed cancer are uninsured since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was implemented, according to a recent study. Participants, who were between 18 and 64 years of age, were identified from the National Cancer Database either before or after ACA implementation in Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states. Investigators looked at percentage of uninsured patients, as well as changes in insurance and early-stage diagnosis for 15 types of cancers. Among the results:

• The percentage of uninsured among patients with newly diagnosed cancer decreased in all income categories in both expansion and nonexpansion states.
• The rate in low-income uninsured patients in expansion states decreased from 10% to 4%, vs 15% to 13% in their counterparts in nonexpansion states.
• The largest decrease was in patients with smoking- or infection-related cancers.
• In patients in expansion states, there was a small shift toward early-stage diagnosis for colorectal, lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer, as well as melanoma.