MONDAY, Oct. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Despite reports that the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) has hindered care for cancer patients, a survey found no significant difference between time to chemotherapy or treatment location for patients before and after MMA's enactment, according to a report published online Oct. 8 in the journal Cancer.
Joelle Y. Friedman, of Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, N.C., and colleagues analyzed data from a survey of 1,421 respondents who had had chemotherapy for cancer. Roughly half underwent chemotherapy between January 2003 and January 2005, and the rest began chemotherapy after MMA's implementation in early 2005.
The researchers found no overall difference in time to initiation of treatment or in treatment location for the pre- and post-MMA groups. This finding doesn't support the idea that the MMA affected patients, based on reports from oncologists about reducing staff and closing satellite offices, thus reducing the attention and convenience available to patients.
However, some patients may still feel the effects of MMA more than others, the authors note. "The sample population had relatively high socioeconomic status. This cohort may not be the most vulnerable to effects of the MMA," they write. "Additional research is needed to fully examine the effects of the legislation on vulnerable populations."
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