Health Insurance Status and Prostate Cancer Outcomes

Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the UCLA Medical Center evaluated the association between insurance status and prostate cancer outcomes in 85,203 men younger than 65 years diagnosed with prostate cancer. Their results underscored the importance of having access to PSA testing, biopsy and treatment.

Insured men were 77% less likely to present with metastatic disease. Among men with high-risk disease, insured men were 229% more likely to receive definitive treatment and had a 46% lower prostate cancer death rate. Insured men also had a 40% lower all- cause death rate. Uninsured patients were more likely to be non-white and come from regions of rural residence, lower median household income and lower education levels.