A bill intended to increase statewide insurance coverage of orally ingested chemotherapy drugs received wide bipartisan support Wednesday during a public hearing in the Assembly Committee on Health.
Oral treatments are equally affordable when compared to intravenous methods and make up over one-quarter of the cancer-fighting medications available today. However, most contemporary insurance plans provide considerably cheaper copayments and broader coverage of more traditional intravenous chemotherapy.
Much of the disparity can be explained by the many health insurance plans that were originally developed with infusions, not pills, in mind. Additionally, the process of insuring cancer patients was developed at a slower rate than treatment of the disease itself.
State Rep. Patricia Strachota, R-West Bend, who originally authored the Cancer Treatment Fairness Act in 2009, testified in favor of the bill, asserting that providing equality of coverage would improve patients’ quality of life.
“All of us have friends and relatives who suffered through grueling cancer treatments and understand the immense comfort and value in taking a pill at home rather than receiving IV treatment for hours a week in a hospital or clinic,” she said in the statement.
Strachota also referenced a Journal of Medical Economics study showing oral treatments were not only patient-friendly, but also more cost-effective than IV treatments, saving individual patients approximately $17,000 annually by eliminating the facility fees incurred with each treatment.
The bill, which has similar legislative counterparts in 27 other states and Washington, D.C., has already attracted the support of over 40 Wisconsin Assembly members and 15 state senators.
