Good Story in the NY Times

Yesterday's New York Times had a good story about cancer patients struggling to pay for chemo drugs that come in pill form. 

I've been living that story ever since I went on Medicare, because Medicare Part B won't pay for Tykerb--which is a pill--as it does for my Herceptin, gemcitabine, and other cancer drugs. 

The monthly copay for Tykerb is $1,600, more than my monthly income of $1,000 from Social Security Disability. 

One twist to the whole thing, which the NYT missed in its story, is that Medicare Part B WILL pay for the oral form of drugs that come in both pill and IV form, because the pill form is cheaper. 

But if the drug comes only in pill form, as does Tykerb, the patient is out of luck. 

One piece of good news in the story that I hadn't known: 

Oregon enacted in late 2007 the nation’s first state law requiring insurers to provide equivalent reimbursement for oral and intravenous chemotherapy drugs.

... Several other states, including Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma and Washington, are now considering similar legislation.

Now I need to find out who is behind this legislation in Washington state--maybe things will change before my stockpile of Tykerb runs out!

Read the story: As Pills Treat Cancer, Insurance Lags Behind

@ Jeanne Sather 2009. 

Comments

[Joana Ramos]

I thought this was a good article in that it pointed this issue, that is getting worse by the day.

However, the article did not go far enough in several ways. Access to medicines is NOT just an insurance issue, and will not and cannot be solved by universal and better insurance coverage. The root of the problem is the exorbitant and ever-escalating price of drugs, including cancer drugs. Unless this is addressed & fixed, prices will continue to rise, and access will get worse& worse. The truth of the matter is that no insurance plan, government, employer or individual has unlimited resources.

But until patients speak out & demand price controls, nothing will change, despite any coverage mandates. Part of the reason that we don't hear disease organizations & patient groups speaking out is that in the US today, the majority receive financial support from drug companies.

This is not just philosophizing on my part, as I too am a cancer survivor who has struggled with the price of medicines. This has led to my conviction that we need to address the problem at its roots, and across the board, not just for separate diseases. I was going to share my comments with the NYT, but by the time I got to the article, comments had been closed.

Another article that's I'd call your attention to was in WSJ, also yesterday, which I read about in Merril Goozner's GoozNews. I haven't gotten to WSJ yet ( it's by subscription -only) ) but Goozner reported that it said that the price of BMS's Sprycel leukemia drug has gone up 20% just since Jan. 09, as the company needs to maintain its profits in the bad economy. See: www.gooznews.com.

[jeanne Sather]

Washington's bill died in committee. I received an e-mail yesterday from Rep. Jamie Pedersen. He wrote:

"Unfortunately, the bill died in February when it failed to pass out of the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee."

Bummer.