[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 34 (Thursday, February 26, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2564-S2565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN:
  S. 488. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act, the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 to require group and individual health insurance coverage and 
group health plans to provide coverage for individuals participating in 
approved cancer clinical trials; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill to help 
cancer patients and bring us closer to finding a cure for that 
devastating and deadly disease.
  Clinical trials are one of the most effective weapons in our nation's 
ongoing fight against cancer. Experimental treatments both 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.
  Take, for example, Sheryl Freeman from Dayton, OH. Sheryl and her 
husband Craig visited my office in Washington, DC 2 years ago to tell 
their story:
  Sheryl was a retired school teacher and was covered under Craig's 
insurance plan. Craig has been a Federal employee for 20 years and has 
one of the best health plans in the country.
  Yet they found that when Sheryl--who had been diagnosed with multiple 
myloma--tried to enroll in a clinical trial to save her life, their 
insurance company would not cover routine costs that would have been 
covered had she not enrolled in the clinical trial.
  For instance, in addition to participating in the clinical trial at 
Ohio State's James Cancer Hospital, Sheryl needed to visit her 
oncologist in Dayton at least once a week for standard cancer 
monitoring, which included scans and blood tests. But her insurance 
company would not cover these services if she enrolled in a clinical 
trial.
  Sheryl wanted to take part in a clinical trial because she hoped it 
would help her. She hoped that it might save her life, give her more 
time, or help future patients with the same type of cancer.
  But rather than devoting her energy toward combating cancer, Sheryl 
spent the last months of her life haggling with her insurance company. 
By the time her insurer finally agreed to cover costs they never should 
have denied, it was too late. The delays and denials from Sheryl's 
insurance company affected her treatment and, likely, her survival.
  Sheryl died on December 9, 2007.
  Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Across Ohio and the Nation, 
insurers are using patients' participation in clinical trials as an 
excuse to deny health benefits that would otherwise be covered.
  In fact, about 20 percent of patients who try to enroll in clinical 
trials are denied coverage by their insurers. This statistic doesn't 
capture those patients who refrain from entering a trial because they 
have been forewarned of coverage barriers.
  The Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act--which has been introduced 
in the House by Representative Israel and which I introduced last year 
as well--would eliminate these barriers for cancer patients. Under the 
legislation, health care costs associated with a clinical trial would 
still be covered by the trial sponsors; however, insurers would not be 
permitted to deny benefits for other routine health care otherwise 
covered under their health plan. Similar legislation was passed in the 
Ohio General Assembly last year, but this federal bill would apply to 
all insurance carriers, not just those regulated by states.

[[Page S2565]]

  The Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act is a lifesaving bill 
endorsed by over thirty voluntary health organizations, including the 
Lance Armstrong Foundation, the National Patient Advocate Foundation, 
and the American Association for Cancer Research.
  It is unthinkable that patients battling cancer must also fight 
insurers for basic benefits that should never be in doubt. To make 
progress on finding a cure for cancer, we need to encourage 
participation in research, not permit insurers to inhibit it.
  I ask my colleagues to please join me in supporting this important 
bill.
                                 ______