For a study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association – Impact factor – 47.661), SRM AP Associate Dean of SLABS, Professor Shailender Swaminathan, and US based colleagues (Benjamin D. Sommers, Rebecca Thorsness, Rajnish Mehrotra, Yoojin Lee, and Amal N. Trivedi) used a U.S.national registry to identify patients 19-64 with newly developed end stage renal disease who had initiated dialysis in a 6 year period 2011-2017.
The objective was to examine if the Medicaid expansion was associated with reduced mortality among patients. The research used a retrospective differences-in-differences study design in the rate of 1-year mortality in 31 states and Washington DC. The investigators used multivariable regression to control for differences in patient demographics and health characteristics, along with population density and area related poverty.
The findings suggest that Medicaid expansions under the ACA were associated with reduced mortality among patients with irreversible kidney failure who initiated dialysis. This result is consistent with studies in other high-risk patient populations.