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PRESS RELEASE: New Year Set to Provide Cancer Patients with More Affordable Access to Life-Saving Care

NEWS

From the Office of

Rep. Sheila Solon

 

31st District

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Dec. 19, 2014

 

 

CONTACT:  Rep. Sheila Solon

573-751-8636

 

 

New Year Set to Provide Cancer Patients

with More Affordable Access to Life-Saving Care

Oral Chemotherapy Parity Legislation Set to Become Law on January 1

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The New Year will bring good news for thousands of cancer patients in Missouri who will gain more affordable access to life-saving oral chemotherapy treatments. Legislation championed by state Rep. Sheila Solon that will eliminate the co-payment cost disparity between orally and intravenously-administered chemotherapies is set to become law on January 1.

 

Solon said the change is an important step in the right direction as the state works to make the best treatments more available and affordable for cancer patients in Missouri.

 

“This is a vitally important change that will dramatically reduce the costs of life-saving oral medications so that cancer patients have a fighting chance to beat this deadly disease,” said Solon, R-Blue Springs.

 

Solon noted that a month’s supply of oral chemotherapy pills currently can carry a price tag in the thousands of dollars. In comparison, intravenous treatments can be obtained by patients for as low as a $20 co-pay. She said correcting the price disparity will allow more Missourians to take advantage of the oral treatment options that are far more convenient and much less invasive.

The legislation (SB 668) approved by the General Assembly, which is similar to a bill that was sponsored by Solon, will establish a price cap of $75 for a 30-day supply of chemotherapy pills. The new law will allow the cap to increase slightly each year but not by more than the consumer price index.

Solon pointed out that an actuarial analysis found that the cap on out-of-pocket costs would cause insurance premiums to rise by an average of only 57 cents per month. Solon said the miniscule impact on insurance costs helped the idea to gain support from her legislative colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

 

“Once it became clear that we could make this simple change that would help so many at such little cost, the idea gained a tidal wave of support that pushed it through the legislative process and onto the governor’s desk,” said Solon. “I am immensely proud of my colleagues and everyone here in Missouri who has worked together to remove the price barrier and to get these medications into the hands of anyone who needs them in their fight against cancer.”

 

 

Solon worked with the Missouri Coalition for Cancer Treatment Access (MCCTA) to create and advance the legislation through the legislative process. The idea also was supported by the following organizations: the American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, International Myeloma Foundation, Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons, St. Louis Breast Cancer Coalition, Lung Cancer Alliance and the Susan G. Komen affiliates of St. Louis, Greater Kansas City and Mid-Missouri.

 

When the bill becomes law on January 1, Missouri will join 27 other states and the District of Columbia in enacting legislation to make oral chemotherapy treatments more affordable.

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