 |
|
7/17/2013
|
Financial protections for cancer patients taking oral chemotherapy treatments signed into law
|
STATE HOUSE – The governor signed legislation this week requiring health plans to cover oral treatments for cancer at a rate comparable to standard intravenous (IV) chemotherapy.
Sponsored by Rep. Gregg Amore (D-Dist. 65, East Providence) and Sen. Gayle L. Goldin (D-Dist. 3, Providence), the legislation aims to put emerging oral chemotherapy treatments on par with IV treatments, protecting patients’ accessibility to medicine and preventing additional financial hardship.
Oral chemotherapy is currently viewed as a prescription drug benefit, which requires patients to pay a large amount of the drugs’ cost. IV chemotherapy is treated as a medical benefit, essentially requiring insurers to issue a modest patient co-pay and a limit to annual out-of-pocket expenses. If enacted, the legislation could save cancer patients thousands of dollars for a treatment that serves the same purpose as the intravenous form.
Furthermore, the world has seen more and more success in recent years with targeted cancer therapies in the form of pills, and the new language is essential to keep up with the latest developments in health and science. A 2008 National Comprehensive Cancer Network report stated that oral chemotherapy treatments make up more than 25 percent of the 400 cancer medicines that are in the process of being tested.
Cosponsors of the House bill (2013-H 5354A) include Representatives Katherine S. Kazarian (D – Dist. 63, East Providence), Helio Melo (D – Dist. 64, East Providence), Larry Valencia (D – Dist. 39, Richmond, Hopkinton, Exeter) and Mia A. Ackerman (D – Dist. 45, Cumberland, Lincoln). Senators Christopher S. Ottiano (D-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol), Paul V. Jabour (D-Dist. 5, Providence), Roger A. Picard (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland) and Catherine Cool Rumsey (D-Dist. 34, Exeter, Charlestown, Hopkinton, Richmond, West Greenwich) cosponsor the Senate companion (2013-S 0428A).
For more information, contact:
Brenna McCabe, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2457
|
|