Cancer clinical trials should be top priority

By Tyler Olson and Doug Struyk

As we approach the start of the 2010 legislative session, the Iowa Legislature will be considering a number of proposals that impact Iowans' access to health care.

As state legislators, we are working with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Iowa Oncology Research Association and others to urge our colleagues in the Iowa Legislature to address an urgent health care issue that will prove to be a tremendous benefit to cancer patients and the larger cancer research world.

Cancer clinical trials are a critical part of the process in finding better treatments for all cancers. Specifically, 40 years ago, a blood cancer diagnosis was a near death sentence for a child. Today, due in part to nearly 65 percent of pediatric cancer patients participating in clinical trials, the survival rate is more than 95 percent for children with Hodgkin lymphoma and more than 90 percent for children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, the most common form of leukemia among kids.

Unfortunately, adult blood cancer patients do not enjoy the same statistics. The participation rate among adults in clinical trials is only 3 to 5 percent nationally. A major barrier to increasing the participation rate is the potential for a patient to lose insurance coverage for routine patient care simply because they are participating in a clinical trial.

Routine patient-care costs for a patient participating in a clinical trial typically include nursing services, inpatient care and a range of diagnostics that are usually the same care costs incurred by insurers for patients in standard therapy. The legislative proposal we support would simply continue to provide coverage for these routine patient care costs incurred as part of a clinical trial.

Without this insurance coverage, a patient may have to pay out-of-pocket for routine care costs or simply chose not to participate in a clinical trial altogether – a result that is counterproductive to cancer research efforts.

To date, 28 states and the District of Columbia require health insurance carriers to provide insurance coverage of routine patient costs for an individual participating in a cancer clinical trial. Legislation requiring this coverage was introduced in the Iowa General Assembly two years ago and will again be considered during the 2010 legislative session.

Now is the time to pass this much-needed legislation in Iowa. Iowans would benefit not only from the increased access to new cancer clinical trials, but also the resulting research that will come out of the clinical trial. Further, if the trial results in a better health outcome for the patient, costs for insurers should be reduced.

Thousands of Iowans have been touched by cancer or faced with a cancer diagnosis themselves. We encourage our colleagues in the Iowa Legislature to support cancer patients' access to the treatment they need and pass this important piece of legislation early in the 2010 legislative session.

Reps. Tyler Olson,

D-Cedar Rapids, and Doug Struyk, R-Council Bluffs, are members of the Iowa House Commerce Committee.