Study: More people are receiving coronary revascularization under the Healthy Michigan Plan

Thanks to the rich amount of data available through the cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery CQIs, researchers at Michigan Medicine found that Michigan’s Medicaid expansion has helped more patients obtain needed heart surgery or angioplasty procedures. In addition, those newly insured with Medicaid had no increase in complications, length of stay or mortality.

“Despite the concern among some that Medicaid patients may be sicker than those with Medicare or private insurance and therefore at higher risk of poor outcomes, quality of care for cardiovascular procedures across Michigan was unchanged following Medicaid expansion,” said lead author Donald Likosky, PhD, associate professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Michigan.

Researchers reviewed information from 7,558 CABG procedures performed at all 33 non-federal cardiac surgical programs in Michigan. These hospitals participate in the Michigan Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons Quality Collaborative. Researchers also reviewed information from 45,183 angioplasty procedures at 47 Michigan hospitals participating in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium.

See the complete blog post on the Michigan Medicine Health Lab blog.