Speaker Valerie Longhurst and Representative Cyndie Romer laud legislation that will bring more screenings, compassionate options to cancer patients in the First State
DOVER – The House passed legislation Tuesday that will ensure more women are provided ovarian cancer screenings, and ease restrictions on medication use options for those with metastatic cancer.
Delaware House Speaker Valerie Longhurst and Sen. Nicole Poore’sHouse Bill 16 would require Medicaid and state employee health plans to cover ovarian cancer monitoring tests for women treated for ovarian cancer. The bill would also require Medicaid and state employee health plans to pay for annual screening tests for women at risk for ovarian cancer.
“We know that early detection is key to healthy outcomes, especially for ovarian cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death among women,” said Speaker Longhurst.
“Sadly, the American Cancer Society predicts that there’ll be about 19,680 new diagnoses of ovarian cancer in the U.S. this year, with nearly 13,000 deaths. HB 16 will do its part to help provide better outcomes because it will ensure more women in Delaware are provided early detection with the potential of saving lives. Additionally, this bill will assist those who may be facing financial or obstacles to healthcare with access to these vital screenings.”
Rep. Cyndie Romer’sHouse Bill 364, also co-sponsored by Senator Nicole Poore, would mandate insurance companies to cover any FDA-approved drug prescribed to treat the side effects of metastatic cancer treatment and prohibits insurance companies from requiring patients first fail to respond to a different drug or prove a history of failure of such drug.
“Insurance companies should not be dictating how doctors and patients treat the symptoms and side effects of metastatic cancer,” said Rep. Romer.
“Those battling cancer, metastatic or isolated, shouldn’t have to wait for mediation their doctors feel will best help them. It’s an added frustration that shouldn’t exist. This bill will end all of that and help ensure a better quality of life for patients.”
HB 364 would require individual, blanket, and group health insurance companies to cover drug treatment for the associated conditions of metastatic cancer in the same way treatment for metastatic cancer is covered.
“These bills have the power to save lives,” said Sen. Poore, vice-chair of the Senate Health & Social Services Committee.
“In a state with one of the highest cancer death rates in the nation, we need to make life-saving early detection services and critical treatments more readily available in our communities,” she said.
“I want to thank Speaker Longhurst and Rep. Romer for their work on these impactful bills and my colleagues in the House for recognizing there is more we can do to help Delawareans survive a life-changing diagnosis. I look forward to passing both bills in the Senate in the coming weeks.”
Both bills are now before the Senate.