Absence of health insurance is associated with decreased life expectancy in patients with cystic fibrosis

摘要

Life expectancy for individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) has increased dramatically in the last 30 yr, but it is unclear whether the improved survival has applied equally to individuals with different health in- surance status. We developed a retrospective inception cohort of all 189 patients with CF born 1/1/55 to 12/31/70 who had at least one hospitalization at a university referral center. The median survival for patients with CF who were without health insurance was 6.1 yr compared with 20.5 yr for those with Medicaid and 20.5 yr for those with private insurance.