PRINTER'S NO. 4324
No. 668 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY KENNEY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging Congress to enact Medicare coverage for oral cancer
2 drugs.
3 WHEREAS, Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality
4 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and throughout the nation;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, Cancer is disproportionately a disease of the
7 elderly, with more than half of all cancer diagnoses occurring
8 in persons 65 years of age or older, who are thus dependent on
9 the Medicare program for provision of cancer care; and
10 WHEREAS, Treatment with anticancer drugs is the cornerstone
11 of modern cancer care, and elderly cancer patients must have
12 access to potentially life-extending drug therapy, but the
13 Medicare program's coverage of drugs is limited to injectable
14 drugs or oral drugs that have an injectable version; and
15 WHEREAS, The nation's investment in biomedical research has
16 begun to bear fruit with a compelling array of new oral
17 anticancer drugs that are less toxic, more effective and more
1 cost-effective than existing therapies, but because such drugs
2 do not have an injectable equivalent, they are not covered by
3 Medicare; and
4 WHEREAS, Noncoverage of these important new products leaves
5 many Medicare beneficiaries confronting the choice of either
6 substantial out-of-pocket personal costs or the selection of
7 more toxic, less effective treatments that are covered by the
8 program; and
9 WHEREAS, Medicare's failure to cover oral anticancer drugs
10 leaves at risk many beneficiaries suffering from blood-related
11 cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, as well as cancers
12 of the breast, lung and prostate; and
13 WHEREAS, Certain members of the Congress of the United States
14 have recognized the necessity of Medicare coverage for all oral
15 anticancer drugs and introduced legislation in the 107th
16 Congress to achieve that result (H.R.1624; S.913); therefore be
17 it
18 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
19 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania respectfully urge the Congress to
20 adopt legislation requiring the Medicare program to cover all
21 oral anticancer drugs; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
23 the President of the United States, members of the Congress, the
24 Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of
25 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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