Medicaid Expansion Can Improve Five-Year Survival in Cancer

TUESDAY, Oct. 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Among individuals in rural and high-poverty communities and with certain cancers, improvements in cause-specific and overall survival were greater in Medicaid expansion states, according to a study published online Oct. 8 in Cancer Discovery.

Elizabeth J. Schafer, M.P.H., from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a difference-in-differences (DD) analysis to examine changes in five-year cause-specific survival and overall survival following Medicaid expansion. The analyses included 1,423,983 cancer cases diagnosed between 2007-2008 and 2014-2015 among adults aged 18 to 59 years residing in 26 expansion states and 12 nonexpansion states.

The researchers found that in expansion states, improvements in cause-specific survival were significantly greater among individuals residing in rural and high-poverty communities, non-Hispanic Whites, and those with pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancer (DD, 2.55, 1.54, 0.37, 2.60, 1.32, and 1.31 percentage points, respectively). For overall survival, the results were similar.

“Research has shown that Medicaid expansion can increase cancer screening prevalence, early-stage diagnosis, short-term survival, and now — according to our own analysis — five-year survival,” Schafer said in a statement. “These findings underscore the importance of protecting and expanding Medicaid in the remaining 10 nonexpansion states to improve outcomes for all individuals.”

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