Legislation seeks to equalize cancer treatment costs
Cancer patients who take oral chemotherapy can be charged more to survive than those who are prescribed intravenous treatment, according to some health insurance plans. Several states across the country are working to change this trend. According to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, “under some plans, co-payments or co-insurance for oral chemotherapy medicines can run into the hundreds or thousands every month” leaving many families and individuals financially vulnerable in the midst of a cancer crisis. The Minnesota Action Center at The American Cancer Society supports that state’s Oral Chemotherapy Parity Act , a bill that would “ensure that patients’ out-of-pocket costs for oral chemotherapy medicines are more affordable and more in line with what patients pay for access to intravenous chemotherapy.” The legislation would protect Minnesotans from being unfairly charged for certain types of treatment.
“A health plan company that provides coverage under a health plan for cancer chemotherapy treatment shall not require a higher co-payment, deductible, or coinsurance amount for a prescribed, orally administered anticancer medication that is used to kill or slow the growth of cancerous cells than what the health plan requires for an intravenously administered or injected cancer medication that is provided, regardless of formulation or benefit category determination by the health plan company.” (S. F. 1761)
The bill goes on to clarify that insurance providers may not increase costs for intravenous treatment in order to bring the costs in line.
Similar legislation has been introduced in other parts of the country including Oregon. The law in Oregon, the first to require insurance companies to provide equal coverage, provided a template for HR 2366, The Cancer Drug Coverage Parity Act, a federal version of the bill. The bill was was introduced to Congress last May and has been referred to committee.
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