Abstract P3-10-06: Genetic testing for HBOC among women with a personal diagnosis of breast cancer in patients with Medicaid as compared to patients with private insurance
Authors: Baron P , Johnson-Isidore K , Miller L , Brown K , Kidd J , Saam J , Lancaster J 
Published: May 2019

Introduction: National guidelines recommend that women diagnosed with early-onset breast cancer and/or a strong family history receive BRCA1/2 testing to guide treatment decisions. Among newly diagnosed patients, a positive test result will often prompt more aggressive surgical treatment to minimize the risk of second primary cancers. Currently, coverage for genetic counseling and testing for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) under the Medicaid expansion program of the Affordable Care Act has varied by state, where some states require a copayment for this service. Similarly, there is no mandate to cover risk-reducing surgery for patients found to carry a genetic mutation despite research showing cost-effectiveness. This analysis sought to determine whether genetic testing for HBOC among patients with breast cancer is different for those with Medicaid compared to those with private insurance.

Methods: A commercial laboratory database was analyzed for patients with a personal history of breast cancer who underwent testing with a 25-gene hereditary cancer panel from September 2013-February 2016. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were between ages 18 and 64 at the time of testing and had not undergone previous genetic testing. A total of 17,020 patients with either Medicaid (N=4,313) or one of 5 private payers (N=12,707) were tested during this period. Descriptive statistics, including means for continuous variables and proportions for categorical variables, were calculated. Chi-square tests were used to test associations and differences of positive rates between insurance provider category. Two-tailed p-values are reported, and any p-value less than 0.05 is considered statistically significant.

Results: Medicaid patients had a median age of breast cancer diagnosis of 45 compared to 47 for patient with private insurance. Among women with Medicaid insurance, a higher proportion were of African (13.3% vs 6.4%) and Latin American ancestry (16.4% vs 5.3%). The mutation positive rate among patients with Medicaid was 13.0%, which was statistically higher than patients with private insurance (9.5%) (p&lt;0.001). The positive rate was higher among Medicaid patients of all ancestries suggesting that this discrepancy was not due to ancestry difference among the two testing populations.

Positive rate by ancestry MedicaidPrivateOverallAfrican80 (13.9%)72 (8.9%)152 (11.0%)Ashkenazi3 (17.6%)20 (15.3%)23 (15.5%)Asian26 (13.3%)40 (7.5%)66 (9.1%)Caucasian201 (12.9%)171 (9.9%)918 (10.4%)Latin American/Caribbean98 (13.8%)65 (9.6%)163 (11.8%)Native American7 (13.7%)9 (7.9%)16 (9.7%)Neareast/Mideast10 (17.9%)8 (9.3%)18 (12.7%)Multiple49 (12.3%)77 (9.0%)126 (10.0%)None Specified85 (11.3%)199 (8.8%)284 (9.4%)Total559 (13.0%)1207 (9.5%)1766 (10.4%)

Conclusions: Overall, the positive mutation rate among individuals with Medicaid insurance was higher than those with private insurance, suggesting the testing requirements applied to this population may be more stringent than those applied to the private insurance population. Consistent genetic testing insurance criteria are necessary for all patients to receive care in line with guidelines following a breast cancer diagnosis.

Citation Format: Baron P, Johnson-Isidore K, Miller L, Brown K, Kidd J, Saam J, Lancaster J. Genetic testing for HBOC among women with a personal diagnosis of breast cancer in patients with Medicaid as compared to patients with private insurance [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-10-06.