Patients with gynecologic cancers who have Medicaid coverage are more likely to feel increased financial distress, anxiety about their cancer and increased general anxiety during the pandemic if their annual income is less than $40,000, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.
The study’s findings, published April 26 in Cancer, suggest that physicians should ask these women more about the challenges they face in completing their treatments and link them with additional services, such as mental health support, social work services and transportation assistance, if necessary.
“We need to be open and forthright with our patients so they feel comfortable bringing us these issues that affect their healthcare,” said senior author Dr. Eloise Chapman-Davis, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Knowing that many patients with Medicaid already struggle with employment, housing challenges and food insecurity, the investigators wanted to get a clearer picture of how the pandemic has exacerbated those problems.
