NABTC Applauds Inclusion of Clinical Trials Coverage in Senate Health Reform Bill

January 18, 2010

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition actively supported the efforts of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to provide clinical trials coverage to patients through the health reform bill, and NABTC applauds the action by the Senate to include this provision in its reform package. The Senate provision would require health and insurance plans to pay for the routine patient care costs for those enrolled in clinical trials, in a manner consistent with coverage of those costs if the patient were receiving standard therapy outside a trial.

This provision of the Senate bill is of critical importance for individuals who wish to enroll in clinical trials, which may represent their best treatment option. Third-party coverage of trials, by removing economic barriers to enrollment, will aid enrollment in trials and the efficient completion of research studies that answer questions about the efficacy and safety of new treatments.

In the days prior to the Senate vote on health reform, NABTC and brain tumor advocates contacted Senators to convey the importance of clinical trials coverage for brain tumor patients. The Coalition is working with its colleagues in the advocacy community to ensure the clinical trials provision is retained in the final health care bill.

Posted in Advocacy Positions, Health Care Reform