title: Health disparities in cost of care in patients with Alzheimer's disease: an analysis across 4 state Medicaid populations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate health disparities with respect to cost of care across 4 state Medicaid populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for this retrospective study. Patients were enrolled in a California, Florida, New Jersey, or New York Medicaid programs during 2004, with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision 331.0). Outcome of interest was cost of care. Decomposition of cost to calculate disparities was estimated using the Oaxaca-Blinder model. An a priori α level of .01 was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 158 974 individuals qualified for this study. Disparities were found to exist between blacks and whites (with blacks having higher costs; P < .0001), whites and others (with whites having higher costs; P < .0001), blacks and Hispanics (with blacks having higher costs; P < .0001), blacks and others (with blacks having higher costs; P < .0001), and Hispanics and others (with Hispanics having higher costs; P < .0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Disparities in cost among minority-to-minority populations were just as prevalent, if not higher, than minority-white disparities.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy-Pulido Center, Tucson AZ 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Adrienne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gilligan
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: Terri L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Warholak
authors.forename: Edward P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Armstrong
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000191:economics; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics*; D008913:Minority Groups; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People