Letters

An Open Letter to the State Senate

From the Oklahoma Society of Clinical Oncology

Feb. 22, 2013

Dear Senators,

As practicing oncologists in Oklahoma, we want to deliver a clear message -- cancer patients in Oklahoma need your immediate help regarding SB 765 (Treat). It passed through the Senate Insurance Committee successfully and will be heard next at the Senate Appropriations Committee.

HB 2202 (Derby) is a companion bill and it successfully passed through the House Insurance Committee.

The Problem:

Although therapies for cancer treatment have advanced dramatically in recent years, insurance company co-pay policies have not kept pace. Oral cancer drugs account for 25 percent to 35 percent of the drugs in the cancer drug pipeline. In many instances the oral treatment is the more effective treatment option. Unfortunately, insurance companies often charge dramatically different co-pays to patients for IV therapy versus oral therapy, even for the same medicine. Some patients are forced to select their treatment for financial rather than medical reasons.

Oral parity legislation will require that a health benefit plan that provides coverage for cancer chemotherapy must provide coverage for a prescribed orally administered cancer drugs on a basis no less favorable than intravenously or injected cancer medication that are covered as benefits.

For example, patients receiving IV therapy may only be charged the co-pay normally paid for a specialty doctor visit, often less than $100. However, if receiving oral drug therapy, patients are often charged a co-pay under the specialty tier of their pharmaceutical benefit, which can sometimes be thousands of dollars per treatment. This means patients frequently cannot afford the treatment deemed best by their physician.

The Solution:

This bill would require insurance companies that elect to offer coverage for cancer therapies to charge the same co-pay for IV and pill therapies. Companies would not be allowed to raise co-pays for IV treatments to equalize IV/oral drug co-pays.

This is a very serious issue and the cancer community in Oklahoma is depending on your help, regardless of politics.

• 19,210 Oklahomans were diagnosed with cancer in 2012 (as reported by the American Cancer Society).

• 21 States and the District of Columbia have already passed similar legislation, with no significant problems identified.

• The Oklahoma Insurance Commission did a study and discovered the approximate cost of less than 50 cents would be the insurance premium increase, per person per month, needed to cover parity between IV and pill therapies.

We ask for your help as follows:

• Vote to support and pass SB 765/HB 2202.

• Encourage your Senate and House colleagues to do the same.

We invite you to visit any one of our practices to learn more about the crisis in cancer care.

Sincerely,

Bashar Alasad MD

Jess Armor MD

Matthew D. Armstrong MD

Vicki C. Baker MD

Wendy Bourland DO

Chris Bozarth MD

Stephen Buck MD

Vikki A. Canfield MD

Y.C. Choo MD

William C. Dooley MD

Melinda Dunlap MD

John L. Eckenrode MD

Ralph Ganick MD

Brian Geister MD

Stephen Hamilton MD

Khader Hussein MD

Nasser Janbay MD

M. Farouk Kanaa MD

Todd Kliewer MD

John Lohrey MD

Joseph P. Lynch MD

Romeo Mandanas MD

Christopher Manus MD

Scott McHam DO

Johnny McMinn MD

Joseph P. Moore MD

Maria G. Moore MD

Sumbal Nabi MD

Thy Nguyen MD

M. Connie Nguyen MD

Nadim Nimeh MD

Akin Ogundipe MD

Mark Olsen MD

Theodore W. Pollock DO FACOI

Robert E. Reynolds MD

Manal Robin-Hanna MD

George Selby MD

Thomas Showalter DO

Daron Street MD

Lara Theobald MD

Jennifer E. Trottman MD

Kevin Weibel DO

Fred Willison MD

Albert Wood MD

Irim Yasin MD

There is a coalition working together to pass this legislation. Members are: Oklahoma Society of Clinical Oncology Oklahoma State Medical Association

Community Oncology Alliance

Integris Health

American Cancer Society -- Cancer Action Network

Oklahoma Primary Care Association

Pharmacy Providers of Oklahoma

Oklahoma Pharmacy Association

Oklahoma Comprehensive Cancer Control Network

American Lung Association

Komen Central & Western Oklahoma

Komen Tulsa

International Myeloma Foundation

National Patient Advocacy Foundation