SB 161 Vetoed

We extend our gratitude to each of you for your efforts and support. Unfortunately, SB 161 was vetoed. This was not because of a lack of strong support. In the weeks between the Legislature’s passage of the bill and the Governor’s veto, Carrie's TOUCH, ACS, Susan G. Komen volunteers and bill supporters sent thousands of e-mails, faxes, and letters of support to the Governor's office, while others called to ask for his signature. The SB 161 Team met with multiple members of the Governor’s staff to discuss the policy and the importance of the bill to cancer patients and their families. The up side of the veto is that the Governor provided a roadmap for future activities with his administration on the issue. Click here to read the veto message.

We thank you and look forward to your support on future legislative endeavors.

In the News!

We are pleased to inform you that Senate Bill 161 passed out of the Assembly Health Committee with a 10-5 vote! As a result, we received a phone call from the Sac Bee Health section requesting an interview. Check out the article here.

The Latest News

Senate Bill 161 passed out of the Senate Health Committee with 36-0 vote and full bipartisan support! Furthermore, Senator Elaine Alquist is now co-author of the bill and The American Cancer Society is co-sponsor.

Senate Bill 161 Passes through the Senate Health Committee with flying colors!

We are pleased to announce that SB 161 passed the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, April 29, 2009. Senator Roderick Wright was accompanied by lead sponsor, Rev. Tammie Denyse of Carrie's TOUCH and co-sponsor, Alicia Sanchez of the American Cancer Society.  The room was silent as three-time cancer survivor, Jerri Carpentier shared her heart wrenching testimony of her recent challenges with intravenous chemotherapy because she cannot afford the $2,000 per round co-pay for the oral equivalent. Jerri's story touch those in attendance and brought life to the reason this bill needs to be passed into law!

We extend a special THANK YOU to those of you that offered your support and we look forward to working with you again as the bill makes its way through the legislative process . 

Alert ! Support Senate Bill 161 by Senator Rod Wright

This Bill Would Require Health Insurance Plans to Cover the Cost of Cancer Treatment that is administered in pill form.   

 

Send Letters of Support to:

 

The Honorable Roderick Wright

California State Senate

Sacramento, CA  95814

 

Letters can be faxed to:  (916) 445-3712 or can be emailed to: katherine.agard@sen.ca.gov

 

You can support Senate Bill 161 (Wright) by attending the hearing which will take place on:

 

Senate Bill 161 (Wright) Hearing

April 29, 2009, 1:30p.m.

Senate Health Committee, Room 4203

California State Capitol

Sacramento, CA 

 

For more information on Senate Bill 161 (Wright) please contact Katherine Agard at (916) 651-4025. 

 

Welcome

My name is Reverend Tammie Denyse and I am the President and Founder of Carrie’s TOUCH.  Carrie’s TOUCH is an organization dedicated to the promotion of early detection and breast cancer education to the African American community. I recently learned about a bill introduced in theCalifornia state legislature and this blog is dedicated to efforts and updates in passing California Senate Bill 161 “The Cancer Treatment Equity Bill” bySenator Rod Wright.

 

If passed, this bill will require health insurance plans in California to  pay for chemotherapy treatment  that is in a pill form in the same way that they pay for chemotherapy that is intravenously administered or injected .  

 

Over the years, many medical developments have been made. One of these medical advances has been the development of an chemotherapy treatment  that can be administered by a pill.  With this treatment, a patient is able to undergo chemotherapy by taking a pill in the comfort of their own home. This means that the patient does not have to go to the hospital for the traditional intravenous or injectable form of chemotherapy that is most commonly thought of when chemotherapy is discussed.

 

 However, most health insurance plans cover a prescription for orally administered chemotherapy under the pharmacy benefit coverage of the plan.  What this means is that the patient must take the prescription to a pharmacy in order to obtain the medication.  As you know, many health plans do not cover the entire cost of prescriptions, and in some instances, they don't cover any of the cost of the prescription if it is not on the health insurers formulary.  Therefore, some patients are required to pay high out-of-pocket costs in order to fill a prescription for their chemotherapy.   Senate Bill 161 by Senator Wright would address this problem by requiring the health plans to modify their coverage and  make available oral chemotherapy readily available to patients in the same way that intravenous medication is made available, without the burden of the out-of-pocket cost at the pharmacy counter. 

 

If you would like to aid in the efforts of passing this bill that would provide cancer patients with more options with their treatment, you can help by writing a letter of support. Send a letter to Senator Rod Wright’s office simply saying that you support his Senate Bill 161.

 

Senator Rod Wright

State Capitol, Room 5064

Sacramento , CA 95814

 

If you have any questions you can contact Stan Diorio in Senator Wright’s office at (916) 651-4025.