Minnesota Senator Introduces Bill to Lower the Cost for Oral Chemotherapy Drugs

(KNSI) — Minnesota Senator Tina Smith is making a push to lower the cost of oral chemotherapy drugs to make them just as affordable as intravenous cancer drugs.

The Cancer Drug Parity Act, authored by Democratic Senator Smith and Republican Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas, would create a federal regulation that would prevent health plans from creating separate cost-sharing requirements for oral and self-administered cancer medicines.

Smith says there is no reason why that would create such a disparity in terms of the cost of the medicines. “Nearly two million Americans will receive a cancer diagnosis in 2021, and this innovation in cancer medication that allows patients to take their chemotherapy at home through a pill, rather than having to go to the hospital or a clinic is a really big deal for patients. It’s so much better to be able to stay at home and is much less disruptive to people.”

She says oral treatments are not only less disruptive to the patients in terms of the time and costs associated with traveling to sometimes distant hospitals for IV therapy, but it also keeps vulnerable people out of hospitals as COVID-19 continues to spread. She adds that the additional cost – sometimes in the neighborhood of $2,000 – can be an extreme burden on patients. “And we see, in fact, that there are some patients who aren’t picking up their medications on time or are delaying their treatment because of this extra cost and that’s, of course, very bad also.”

Smith says the Cancer Drug Parity Act has received bipartisan support and doctors and patient advocates applauding the move. Calling it “common sense, practical and fair,” she says she would like to see the bill come to a voice vote on the Senate floor to get it into law as quickly as possible.

Forty states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar oral parity laws. Some insurance companies already have similar policies on the books.

___