Thursday, May 1, 2008

Cancer Trial Insurance Mandate Advances in Ohio

By Marc Kilmer

Categories: Insurance Regulation, Ohio

A bill requiring insurance companies to cover routine costs associated with experimental cancer trials got unanimous support from the Ohio House yesterday....
Senate Bill 186 essentially says that if a health- insurance plan covers visits to the doctor, X-rays and hospital stays for cancer patients undergoing typical treatment, it cannot exclude coverage for the same costs just because a patient is in a clinical trial.

As with most mandates, this one is pretty seductive. After all, who can be against providing routine coverage during cancer trials? The incremental march of these mandates raises insurance costs, though, and prices people out of the market. Ohio is not as bad as many states with its insurance mandates, but it has added a couple over the past year or so. Unfortunately, once these mandates are put in place, it's unlikely that they will be repealed.