Senator Sherrod Brown

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced legislation that would protect access to treatment options for patients diagnosed with cancer. Brown’s Cancer Clinical Trials Act prevents insurance companies from denying patients participating in clinical trials coverage for the services they would otherwise receive under their health care plans. Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY).

“Cancer patients should be able to pursue the best courses of treatment without putting their financial security at risk,” said Brown. “My bill prevents insurance companies from denying cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials from receiving the routine medical services they would otherwise be provided. Cancer patients should be able to focus on getting better, rather than battling insurance companies.”

Clinical trials often include cutting-edge therapies that are not available through traditional methods. These experimental treatments save lives and advance research. However, many health insurance policies discourage enrollment in these trials by refusing to cover trial participants’ routine health care, even as patients continue to pay monthly premiums. According to The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, an estimated 20 percent of patients who attempt to enroll in clinical trials are denied coverage by their insurance. These patients are often prevented from exploring clinical trial options because they risk losing health care coverage for routine services.

“Every cancer patient should be able to fight the disease with the best and newest treatments,” said Rep. Steve Israel, sponsor of the legislation in the House and Co-Chair of the House Cancer Caucus. “This year, there will be more than 1.4 million new cases of cancer in the United States and fewer than 5 percent of patients will participate in a clinical trial. This legislation gives cancer patients who are willing to participate in clinical trials the access they need to the best tools available to defeat cancer. I commend Senator Brown for his efforts on this bill in the Senate and I look forward to working with him to pass this critical legislation.”

“This federal legislation is crucial to ensure that all cancer patients nationwide have access to the best possible treatment, including leading edge discoveries available only through clinical trials,” said Dr. Michael Caligiuri, director of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and chief executive officer of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. “When patients are denied access to cancer clinical trials, we lose our best hope of curing cancer.  As a physician and researcher, I’ve seen firsthand patients who receive the latest treatments and live.  And, I’ve also seen those patients - who are denied access to those same discoveries - lose their fight against the disease.”

The Cancer Clinical Trials Act would extend health care coverage to include routine care costs following the Medicare definition.

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