The state House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that would require insurers to provide the same coverage for oral chemotherapy drugs as they do for intravenous drugs.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) supports this legislation because it would help patients afford oral chemotherapy drugs, an increasingly popular therapy choice for cancer.
Intravenous drugs are covered under the patient’s medical benefit, but oral drugs are often covered under a patient’s prescription drug plan, costing patients more out-of-pocket.
House Bill 1865 would require the same copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, and maximum out-of-pocket costs for chemotherapy drugs, no matter how they are administered. The new rule would apply to individual and group health insurance policies that offer coverage of chemotherapy drugs.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.