Road traffic density and recurrent asthma emergency department visits among Medicaid enrollees in New York State 2005-2015.

BACKGROUND: Environmental exposures such as traffic may contribute to asthma morbidity including recurrent emergency department (ED) visits. However, these associations are often confounded by socioeconomic status and health care access. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the association between traffic density and recurrence of asthma ED visits in the primarily low income Medicaid population in New York State (NYS) between 2005 and 2015. METHODS: The primary outcome of interest was a recurrent asthma ED visit within 1-year of index visit. Traffic densities (weighted for truck traffic) were spatially linked based on home addresses. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors predicting recurrent asthma ED visits. RESULTS: In a multivariate model, Medicaid recipients living within 300-m of a high traffic density area were at a statistically significant risk of a recurrent asthma ED visit compared to those in a low traffic density area (OR = 1.31; 95% CI:1.24,1.38). Additionally, we evaluated effect measure modification for risk of recurrent asthma visits associated with traffic exposure by socio-demographic factors. The highest risk was found for those exposed to high traffic and being male (OR = 1.87; 95% CI:1.46,2.39), receiving cash assistance (OR = 2.11; 95% CI:1.65,2.72), receiving supplemental security income (OR = 2.21; 95% CI:1.66,2.96) and being in the 18.44 age group (OR = 1.59;95% CI 1.48,1.70) was associated with the highest risk of recurrent asthma ED visit. Black non-Hispanics (OR = 2.35; 95% CI:1.70,3.24), Hispanics (OR = 2.13; 95% CI:1.49,3.04) and those with race listed as "Other" (OR = 1.89 95% CI:1.13,3.16) in high traffic areas had higher risk of recurrent asthma ED visits as compared to White non-Hispanics in low traffic areas. CONCLUSION: We observed significant persistent disparities in asthma morbidity related to traffic exposure and race/ethnicity in a low-income population. Our findings suggest that even within a primarily low-income study population, socioeconomic differences persist. These differences in susceptibility in the extremely low-income group may not be apparent in health studies that use Medicaid enrollment as a proxy for low SES.

Impact of New York State's Medicaid Breast Cancer Selective Contracting Policy on Access and Quality of Care Outcomes.

The New York State Medicaid Breast Cancer Selective Contracting policy was implemented in 2009 and mandates that Medicaid enrollees receive breast cancer surgery at high-volume hospital and ambulatory surgery facilities. This article evaluates the policy's impact on 8 access and quality of care measures prepolicy and postpolicy implementation. Linked New York State (NYS) Cancer Registry, Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System, and NYS Medicaid encounter and claim data were used to calculate measures. Interrupted time series analysis was conducted to estimate the change in measure rates prepolicy and postpolicy implementation. Findings indicate that the policy was successful in shifting surgeries from low- to high-volume facilities and that high-volume facilities outperformed low-volume facilities on several access and quality of care measures.

Smoking Cessation Benefit Utilization: Comparing Methodologies for Measurement using New York State's Medicaid Data.

Introduction: Pharmacotherapy and counseling for tobacco cessation are evidence-based methods that increase successful smoking cessation attempts. Medicaid programs are required to provide coverage for smoking cessation services. Monitoring utilization is desirable for program evaluation and quality improvement. Various methodologies have been used to study utilization. Many factors can influence results, perhaps none more than how smokers are identified. This study evaluated the utilization of smoking cessation services using various methods to estimate the number of smokers within New York State's (NYS's) Medicaid program in 2015. Methods: Estimates of utilization were generated based on Medicaid claims and encounters and four sources of smoking prevalence: two population surveys, one Medicaid enrollee survey, and diagnosis codes. We compared the percentage of (estimated) smokers utilizing cessation services, and the average number of services used, across fee-for-service and managed care populations, and by cessation service category. Results: Statewide, smoking prevalence estimates ranged from 10.9% to 31.5%. Diagnosis codes identified less than 45% of smokers estimated by surveys. A similar number of cessation counseling (199106) and pharmacotherapy services (197728) were used, yet more members utilized counseling (126839) than pharmacotherapy (91433). The estimated percentage of smokers who used smoking cessation services ranged from 15.1% to 43.4%, and the estimated average number of cessation services used ranged from 0.31 to 0.90 per smoker. Conclusion: Smoking prevalence estimates obtained through surveys greatly exceed prevalence observed in diagnosis codes in NYS's Medicaid data. Use of diagnosis codes in the analysis of smoking cessation benefit utilization may result in overestimates. Implications: Selection of a smoking prevalence data source for similar analyses should ultimately be based on completeness of the data and applicability to the population of interest. Evaluation of smoking cessation benefit utilization and the effectiveness of tobacco control campaigns aimed to increase utilization requires a well-defined methodology which ensures reliable baseline data. Comparing utilization estimates across populations or state lines can be misleading, as differences in how estimations were generated can greatly bias observed results.