141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

276853
Association between survival of infants with congenital heart defects and medical insurance type

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

James E. Kucik, PhD MPH , Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control anad Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Jean Paul Tanner, MPH , 4 Birth Defects Surveillance Program, Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Russell Kirby, PhD , Maternal and Child Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Jane Correia, BS , Florida Birth Defects Registry, Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental Public Health Medicine, Tallahassee, FL
Sharon Watkins, PhD , Analytical Environmental Epidemiology Program, Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental Public Health Medicine, Tallahassee, FL
Cynthia Cassell, PhD , National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the leading cause of mortality in infants with birth defects and often require access to timely specialized care. This study examined the association between survival of infants with CHDs and medical insurance type. Live-born infants with a CHD born 1998-2007 to Florida resident mothers were identified by the Florida Birth Defects Registry and linked to hospital discharge data. Survival probabilities were examined and log-rank tests were used to determine whether survival differed significantly by insurance type, maternal race, and other selected demographic and clinical characteristics. Cox proportional hazards models were used to derive adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Of the 43,532 infants with a CHD, 46% had private insurance, 44% had public insurance, 3% were uninsured, and 6% had a combination of payers. Uninsured infants with critical CHDs had up to a nearly 5-fold increased mortality risk compared to privately insured infants. Publically insured infants had a 30% reduced mortality risk compared with privately insured infants during the neonatal period, but had a 60% increased risk in the post-neonatal period. Among publically insured infants, non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks had the highest post-neonatal mortality risk (aHR 2.1, 95% CI=1.4-3.0). Adjusting for payer status and other access to care indicators reduced the Black-White disparity in mortality risk by 66%. Payer status had a modest impact on survival that varied by infancy period and maternal race. Identifying barriers to care can allow for more targeted interventions to improve survival for these infants.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the comparative moratality risk associated with heath insurance type. Explain the impact of health insurance on observed racial/ethnic disparities in survival.

Keywords: Health Care Access, Health Insurance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been working at CDC for almost 12 years in the area of birth defects surveillance and research during which time I've been the managing director of a surveillance program, been the principal investigator on several large multi-state studies, and served as the branch policy lead.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.