Medicaid expansion in California and breast cancer incidence across neighborhoods with varying social vulnerabilities

Purpose To investigate changes in breast cancer incidence rates associated with Medicaid expansion in California. Methods We extracted yearly census tract-level population counts and cases of breast cancer diagnosed among women aged between 20 and 64 years in California during years 2010–2017. Census tracts were classified into low, medium and high groups according to their social vulnerability index (SVI). Using a difference-in-difference (DID) approach with Poisson regression models, we estimated the incidence rate, incidence rate ratio (IRR) during the pre- (2010–2013) and post-expansion periods (2014–2017), and the relative IRR (DID estimates) across three groups of neighborhoods. Results Prior to the Medicaid expansion, the overall incidence rate was 93.61, 122.03, and 151.12 cases per 100,000 persons among tracts with high, medium, and low-SVI, respectively; and was 96.49, 122.07, and 151.66 cases per 100,000 persons during the post-expansion period, respectively. The IRR between high and low vulnerability neighborhoods was 0.62 and 0.64 in the pre- and post-expansion period, respectively, and the relative IRR was 1.03 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.06, p = 0.026). In addition, significant DID estimate was only found for localized breast cancer (relative IRR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.09, p = 0.049) between high and low-SVI neighborhoods, not for regional and distant cancer stage. Conclusions The Medicaid expansion had differential impact on breast cancer incidence across neighborhoods in California, with the most pronounced increase found for localized cancer stage in high-SVI neighborhoods. Significant pre-post change was only found for localized breast cancer between high and low-SVI neighborhoods.