THURSDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients insured through Medicaid are more severely disabled and the disease advances faster than in similar patients with private insurance, according to a report published online May 31 in Arthritis Care & Research.
Hermine J. Brunner, M.D., of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, and colleagues compared disease, quality-of-life, pain, health care, health insurance and outcomes of 295 juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients insured by Medicaid or private companies.
The researchers found that the disease was more often systemic in the 40 Medicaid patients than in the 255 privately insured patients, even though both groups seemed to use health care providers and facilities equally.
"Despite apparently similar health resource utilization and joint involvement, Medicaid status is associated with significantly lower health-related quality-of-life and higher disability in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis," the authors write.
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