A Day on the Hill
Goal #1: Find cosponsors for the
Cancer Drug Coverage Parity Act
The bipartisan Cancer
Treatment Parity Act (H.R.
2739/S. 1566) was introduced in the 113th Congress;
in the House, the legislation
was sponsored by Representative Brian Higgins (D-NY)
and by Senators Al Franken
(D-MN) and Mark Kirk (R-IL)
in the Senate.
The legislation would
require any health plan that
provides coverage for cancer
chemotherapy treatment
to provide coverage for
orally administered and
self-injectable anticancer
medications at a cost to the
patient no less favorable
than the cost of intravenous
(IV), port-administered,
or injected anticancer
medications.
Oral chemotherapy
treatments – many of which
do not have traditional IV
or injected alternatives
– have become more
prevalent for patients with
hematologic malignancies.
Unfortunately, insurance
coverage has not kept pace
with innovation: While IV
treatment is typically paid
for as part of a health plan’s
medical benefit, patientadministered anticancer
drugs are often covered
under the prescription drug
benefit, making patients
responsible for extremely
high and unmanageable
co-pays. This can be a large
financial burden on patients
and potentially a life-ordeath decision.
Though the bills gained
a significant number of
co-sponsors, neither saw
any additional movement
through the legislative
process. Sponsors of the
legislation in both the
House and Senate remain
committed to the issue,
however, and reintroduced
the legislation – renamed
the Cancer Drug Coverage
Parity Act – in early June.
This time around, Rep.
Brian Higgins (D-NY) was
joined by Rep. Leonard
Lance (R-NJ) in the House.
In the Senate, the bill was
once again introduced by
Sens. Kirk and Franken.
36
ASH Clinical News
10:00 a.m.: Drs. Donald, Bering, and
Kleinerman meet with Katie Mitchell, a
legislative correspondent from Senator
David Vitter’s (R-LA) office. Ms. Mitchell believes this is something Sen. Vitter
would be interested in supporting!
11:00 a.m.: Moving over to the Longworth House, Drs. Kleinerman, Bering,
and Donald meet with Representative
Seth Moulton (D-MA-06) to discuss the
importance of the Cancer Drug Coverage
Parity Act.
10:30 a.m.: The doctors meet with Alexander Jones, a legislative correspondent
12:45 p.m.: Back on the trail after a
lunch stop at the Dirksen Cafeteria,
Dr. Bering and the ASH advocates with Alexander Jones in Sen. Ed Markey’s office.
he gives the example that “with pills
[oral chemotherapy], patients wouldn’t
have to drive long distances to receive
IV chemotherapy treatment.”
While laws have been passed on the
state level in both Massachusetts and
Louisiana, Dr. Donald comments that
there is still a need to co-sponsor a federallevel law that would help patients living
in these states but working elsewhere, as
well as patients across the country.
Mr. Udutha also expresses interest
in finding out if, beyond this bill, there
are any other steps to take to make oral
chemotherapy parity a reality.
2:00 p.m.: Back at the House Office
Building, the doctors meet with Melissa
Gierach, a senior advisor on Health
Care and Tax Policy from the office of
Representative Charles Boustany Jr.,
MD (R-LA-03). Ms. Gierach expresses a
lot of interest in the bill, asking for more
information about the letter request for
research on re-examinin rRd