Will Your Insurance Cover a Clinical Trial?

This important information is from the CLL ACOR list.

I am one lucky dude to live in California, for many reasons, including clinical trial coverage. 

A quick look at the link below suggests that coverage is pretty good in most states, and even better with private carriers compared to government plans.

Thank you Liz for sharing this:

Subject: Will Your Insurance Cover a Clinical Trial?

Whether an insurance company pays for routine care costs in a clinical trial varies by state law. In some states, only clinical trials for children are covered. In others, only costs associated with phase III trials are covered. There are many variations. Under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), all insurance carriers must pay for routine care in clinical trials in all states starting January 1, 2014. 

Until 2014, here is a link to current clinical trial coverage laws by state: http://bit.ly/CTStateLaws

Many drug manufacturers also offer financial assistance to make investigational (not yet FDA approved) drugs available to patients in need for off-label use by certain doctors, usually principal investigators. As Karni writes below if you have concerns about costs, ask the research coordinators on the trial. They often have their own strategies and billing tactics to help a patient get coverage and afford a trial.

Liz Hart McMillan

Director, Hope for Lymphoma

P.O. Box 5096

East Hampton, NY 11937