Affordable Care Act led to improved treatment of colorectal cancer among young adults

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/acs-aca121619.php

News Release 19-Dec-2019
American Cancer Society

An Affordable Care Act provision that allowed young adults to be covered under their parents' insurance led to a shift to earlier-stage diagnosis and more timely receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy among young colorectal cancer patients, according to a new American Cancer Society study. The study appears in JNCI.

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They found DCE-eligible patients who had surgery for stage IIB-IIIC colorectal cancer were 34% more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy post-ACA than pre-ACA. Furthermore, among DCE-eligible patients, average time from surgery to chemotherapy decreased by 7 days; from 57.4 days pre-ACA to 50.4 days post-ACA. There was no change among the comparison group (those ineligible for DCE). The authors note that because the younger age groups were too young to be eligible for routine colorectal cancer screening, the change likely reflect improved access to care that allows for timely assessment of early symptoms.

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