14 Nov Insurance Issues Favor Wealthier Patients Receiving Multiple Transplants
Dr. Givens
(photo Seth Wenig)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Raymond Givens MD PhD
Columbia University Medical Center
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Givens: Multiple listing- i.e., simultaneous placement on multiple organ transplant waiting lists- is allowed by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Because insurance generally does not pay for the costs of transportation between multiple centers or of temporary housing, there has been concern that the multiple-listing policy gives an unfair advantage to wealthier patients. We examined the UNOS database from 2000-2013 and identified 33,928 patients who were listed for a first-time single-organ heart transplant, 2% of whom met our definition of multiple-listing. Compared to single-listed patients, multiple-listed patients lived in ZIP codes with significantly higher median incomes, and were more likely to have private insurance and less likely to be supported by Medicaid. They were also significantly more likely to have blood type O and to live in areas with higher predicted waiting times. Despite having lower listing priority at the start of the primary listing and lower predicted mortality, the multiple-listed patients were often upgraded at secondary listing and had a higher eventual transplant rate (74.4% vs 70.2%) and lower mortality rate while listed (8.1% vs 12.2%). When the multiple-listed cohort was compared against a propensity-score-matched single-listed subset the relative rare of transplant was 3.02. There were no differences in post-transplant survival.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Givens: Multiple listing appears to be an effective response to long waiting times but appears to favor patients who appear to have more financial resources and are.objectively less sick. We argue that the multiple-listing policy should be heavily reconsidered.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Givens: Our study indicates an advantage of.multiple-listing for multiple-listed patients. We are.currently investigating it’s effects.upon single-listed patients. We have also preliminary confirmed an advantageous effect of multiple-listing for other solid organs.
Citation:
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Raymond Givens MD PhD (2015). Insurance Issues Favor Wealthier Patients Receiving Multiple Transplants
Last Updated on November 14, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD