TY - JOUR
T1 - Association between the COVID-19 Pandemic and Insurance-Based Disparities in Mortality after Major Surgery among US Adults
AU - Glance, Laurent G.
AU - Dick, Andrew W.
AU - Shippey, Ernie
AU - McCormick, Patrick J.
AU - Dutton, Richard
AU - Stone, Patricia W.
AU - Shang, Jingjing
AU - Lustik, Stewart J.
AU - Lander, Heather L.
AU - Gosev, Igor
AU - Joynt Maddox, Karen E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in surgical care. Whether these disruptions disproportionately impacted economically disadvantaged individuals is unknown. Objective: To evaluate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and mortality after major surgery among patients with Medicaid insurance or without insurance compared with patients with commercial insurance. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the Vizient Clinical Database for patients who underwent major surgery at hospitals in the US between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2020. Exposures: The hospital proportion of patients with COVID-19 during the first wave of COVID-19 cases between March 1 and May 31, 2020, stratified as low (≤5.0%), medium (5.1%-10.0%), high (10.1%-25.0%), and very high (>25.0%). Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was inpatient mortality. The association between mortality after surgery and payer status as a function of the proportion of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was evaluated with a quasi-experimental triple-difference approach using logistic regression. Results: Among 2950147 adults undergoing inpatient surgery (1550752 female [52.6%]) at 677 hospitals, the primary payer was Medicare (1427791 [48.4%]), followed by commercial insurance (1000068 [33.9%]), Medicaid (321600 [10.9%]), other payer (140959 [4.8%]), and no insurance (59729 [2.0%]). Mortality rates increased more for patients undergoing surgery during the first wave of the pandemic in hospitals with a high COVID-19 burden (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24; P =.01) and a very high COVID-19 burden (AOR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.24-1.53; P <.001) compared with patients in hospitals with a low COVID-19 burden. Overall, patients with Medicaid had 29% higher odds of death (AOR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.22-1.36; P <.001) and patients without insurance had 75% higher odds of death (AOR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.55-1.98; P <.001) compared with patients with commercial insurance. However, mortality rates for surgical patients with Medicaid insurance (AOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.82-1.30; P =.79) or without insurance (AOR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.47-1.54; P =.60) did not increase more than for patients with commercial insurance in hospitals with a high COVID-19 burden compared with hospitals with a low COVID-19 burden. These findings were similar in hospitals with very high COVID-19 burdens. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a higher risk of mortality after surgery in hospitals with more than 25.0% of patients with COVID-19. However, the pandemic was not associated with greater increases in mortality among patients with no insurance or patients with Medicaid compared with patients with commercial insurance in hospitals with a very high COVID-19 burden..
AB - Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in surgical care. Whether these disruptions disproportionately impacted economically disadvantaged individuals is unknown. Objective: To evaluate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and mortality after major surgery among patients with Medicaid insurance or without insurance compared with patients with commercial insurance. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the Vizient Clinical Database for patients who underwent major surgery at hospitals in the US between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2020. Exposures: The hospital proportion of patients with COVID-19 during the first wave of COVID-19 cases between March 1 and May 31, 2020, stratified as low (≤5.0%), medium (5.1%-10.0%), high (10.1%-25.0%), and very high (>25.0%). Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was inpatient mortality. The association between mortality after surgery and payer status as a function of the proportion of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was evaluated with a quasi-experimental triple-difference approach using logistic regression. Results: Among 2950147 adults undergoing inpatient surgery (1550752 female [52.6%]) at 677 hospitals, the primary payer was Medicare (1427791 [48.4%]), followed by commercial insurance (1000068 [33.9%]), Medicaid (321600 [10.9%]), other payer (140959 [4.8%]), and no insurance (59729 [2.0%]). Mortality rates increased more for patients undergoing surgery during the first wave of the pandemic in hospitals with a high COVID-19 burden (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24; P =.01) and a very high COVID-19 burden (AOR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.24-1.53; P <.001) compared with patients in hospitals with a low COVID-19 burden. Overall, patients with Medicaid had 29% higher odds of death (AOR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.22-1.36; P <.001) and patients without insurance had 75% higher odds of death (AOR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.55-1.98; P <.001) compared with patients with commercial insurance. However, mortality rates for surgical patients with Medicaid insurance (AOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.82-1.30; P =.79) or without insurance (AOR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.47-1.54; P =.60) did not increase more than for patients with commercial insurance in hospitals with a high COVID-19 burden compared with hospitals with a low COVID-19 burden. These findings were similar in hospitals with very high COVID-19 burdens. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a higher risk of mortality after surgery in hospitals with more than 25.0% of patients with COVID-19. However, the pandemic was not associated with greater increases in mortality among patients with no insurance or patients with Medicaid compared with patients with commercial insurance in hospitals with a very high COVID-19 burden..
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134529823&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.22360
DO - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.22360
M3 - Article
C2 - 35849395
AN - SCOPUS:85134529823
SN - 2574-3805
SP - E2222360
JO - JAMA Network Open
JF - JAMA Network Open
ER -