The Relation between Health Insurance Coverage and Clinical Outcomes among Women with Breast Cancer

Access to health care is currently a subject of considerable concern in the United States. Approximately 34 million Americans lack health insurance, 1 and many of them may delay or forgo necessary medical care because of its cost 2 . People without health insurance receive fewer inpatient and outpatient medical services than those with insurance, 3 – 7 and the quality of hospital care may also be lower for uninsured patients 8 . The Medicaid program has improved access for poor people who qualify, 9 but Medicaid enrollees are less likely than privately insured patients to have a personal physician 10 and less likely to undergo certain . . .