Native people with cancer who are enrolled in Medicare spend more money on treatment and die more often than the rest of Medicare patients with cancer, according to new research published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers analyzed Medicare claims data from 2016 to 2023, examining cancer diagnoses, mortality, hospitalizations, health care spending, cancer screenings, hospice utilization, prescription drug costs, and demographic factors.
The numbers revealed stark disparities: Native patients with cancer died at higher rates than any other ethnic group — as much as twice the total rate of all other enrolled demographics combined. This is despite Native people in the study having a lower prevalence of most cancers.
Native patients with cancer also had more hospital stays, emergency room visits, and intensive care unit admissions than all other Medicare demographics with cancer — all of which could imply more adverse health effects from the disease or more co-existing illness. As well, Native people pay $1,200 more out of pocket for treatment.
Native beneficiaries with cancer were approximately 80% more likely to die during the year than the overall Medicare cancer population, though not all deaths were from the disease itself.
Researchers found that in 2023, Native beneficiaries were approximately 40% less likely to receive breast or colorectal cancer screenings than non-Native beneficiaries.
The findings affirm national long-term trends of high cancer mortality rates in Native communities, with research pointing to these rates being largely driven by systemic factors, such as lack of access to preventive screening, exposure to environmental toxins, geographic isolation, and difficulty accessing transportation.
