When compared with more variable-access systems, a VA system of care that includes a single-payer insurance may afford equality in use of biologic agents among different racial subsets with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a recent study found. RA disease status was examined in the Ethnic Minority Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium (EMRAC) and Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry (VARA). The combined cohorts provided 2,899 subjects for analysis (EMRAC=943, VARA=1,956). Researchers found:

• Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug use was greater in EMRAC nonwhites compared with their white counterparts, but similar to all VARA patients (33% vs 22%, 36%, 39%, respectively).
• However, biologic agent use was significantly greater in EMRAC vs VARA patients (37% vs 22%).
• In VARA patients, there was no difference in biologic agent use among racial subsets (22% vs 21%).
• In EMRAC patients, biologic agent use was greater in whites than in nonwhites (EMRAC white 45% vs EMRAC nonwhite 33%) and compared with all VARA subjects (EMRAC white 45% vs all VARA 22%).