title: Does supplemental private insurance affect care of Medicare recipients hospitalized for myocardial infarction?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine whether supplemental private insurance coverage among Medicare recipients alters patterns of health care or outcomes associated with acute myocardial infarction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medicare patients hospitalized after a myocardial infarction were identified from New York City hospitalization records. Patients who had only Medicare coverage were compared with those who had supplemental private or public insurance coverage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with supplemental private insurance exhibited increased rates of revascularization and decreased rates of in-hospital mortality relative to patients with either Medicare only or Medicare and public insurance. Moreover, Blacks and women were less likely to undergo revascularization and exhibited higher in-hospital mortality rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite Medicare, private insurance coverage appears to influence the likelihood of coronary revascularization among older patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. fang@aecom.yu.edu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Alderman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D009519:New York City; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors