[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 23 (Monday, June 12, 2000)]
[Pages 1310-1311]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Departure for Tokyo, Japan, and an Exchange With Reporters

June 7, 2000

Clinical Trials/Patients' Bill of Rights

    The President.  Good morning everyone. We are here at this early 
hour to talk about a vitally important issue to the health of America's 
senior citizens--indeed, eventually, to the health of all of us.
    We must help more seniors participate in clinical trials that test 
new therapies for illnesses, from cancer to heart disease to Alzheimers. 
These trials may prolong lives, and they are central to finding cures 
for deadly diseases.
    Today, America's seniors are badly under-represented in clinical 
trials, yet they bear the heaviest share of illness. More than half of 
our cancer patients are over 65, but only a third of those in clinical 
trials are seniors. For breast cancer, the statistics are even worse.
    Today, thousands of important clinical trials don't have enough 
patients because so few seniors are able to take part, and that means 
slower progress towards curing or treating illness. One major factor 
keeping seniors out of clinical trials is patients lack of certainty 
that their expenses will be covered by insurance. Because Medicare's 
policies on payment for clinical trials have been unclear, seniors 
cannot be sure of coverage if they volunteer for experimental care. Many 
assume they'll be saddled with thousands of dollars in routine medical 
costs if they participate, and they clearly cannot bear such a heavy 
burden.
    For several years, Vice President Gore has led our efforts to clean 
up the confusion and help seniors and people with disabilities into 
clinical trials. We've had bipartisan support in Congress, led by 
Senators Rockefeller and Mack and Congresswoman Johnson and Congressman 
Bentsen and Congressman Cardin.
    Today, after careful study, I am signing an executive memorandum 
directing Medicare to change its policy and remove a major barrier to 
seniors' participation in these trials. Within a week, Medicare will 
begin to cover all the routine medical costs of participation in a 
clinical trial.
    The Department of Health and Human Services and the Health Care 
Financing Administration will begin outreach programs so that patients, 
as well as doctors, researchers, and administrators, all are aware of 
the change. We'll ask for the help of advocates for patients and 
research who have done so much to publicize this issue. We believe that 
with good outreach, thousands of seniors could join trials this year and 
make a dramatic contribution to the progress of medicine, as well as to 
the health of older Americans.
    I am also directing today the Department of Health and Human 
Services to report back to me on ways we can provide additional support 
to clinical trials that are especially relevant to senior citizens and 
am requesting that the National Institutes of Health look for ways we 
can encourage even more seniors to speed science's progress by 
participating in new clinical trials.
    As America ages, we must provide all our seniors affordable, quality 
health care, and we should be using our cutting-edge science to meet 
that challenge. Simply put, the more seniors we enroll in trials, the 
faster we'll be able to use these advances to save American lives. We've 
done this successfully with cancer in children. For decades now, more 
than half of all the children with cancer have joined clinical trials, 
giving us a wealth of evidence about how the disease works and how best 
to fight it. Now we can cure three-quarters of childhood cancers. That 
could never have happened without the participation of children in these 
trials. We should be doing the same for Americans of every age.
    Today I've authorized Medicare to help seniors participate. Private 
health care plans should be doing the same for their members. But it 
won't happen also unless Congress takes the next step and passes a 
strong Patients' Bill of Rights. Congress has had that on its agenda for 
6 months now in the Norwood-Dingell bill, which includes a requirement 
that every private insurer cover the cost of participation in clinical 
trials.
    This month, before the summer recess, Congress has a window of 
opportunity to take

[[Page 1311]]

another real step to make our country stronger and safer and healthier. 
I hope that window will be used, because we need this. If we do the 
Medicare participation in clinical trials and pass the Patients' Bill of 
Rights, then all our citizens will be able to participate in these 
trials, and that will hasten the day when all age groups will be more 
likely to recover from the most serious illnesses.
    Thank you very much.

2000 Election

    Q.  Mr. President, could you disabuse us of the notion that this is 
an attempt by the Vice President to curry favor among a group of 
individuals which have been, in recent years, starting to move away from 
the Democratic Party during an election year?
    The President.  Well, I think the only way I can disabuse you of the 
notion is 7\1/2\ years of activity on this and the fact that it has been 
well known that I have been working on this issue, and so has he, for 
several months now, trying to work through all the legal and 
administrative issues necessary to get this done. It's not as if this is 
just an issue that popped up on the radar screen. We've been working 
this clinical trial issue alone for years, not only the seniors but with 
children. This is by no means the first action we've taken in this area.
    And indeed, there has been a strong bipartisan interest in this with 
all the people involved. I mentioned Senator Connie Mack, Congresswoman 
Nancy Johnson; they are the two most visible Republicans who have been 
working on this. But we've been--all of us have been working on this for 
some time now trying to get this done. And if I could have gotten it 
done a month ago, 2 months ago, 6 months ago, I would have done that.
    Thank you.

 Note:  The President spoke at 8:09 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House.