10/21/2020

More than 100 Organizations, including MSHO, Endorse Senate Bill to Improve Clinical Trial Access

MSHO joined more than 110 organizations representing patients, medical researchers, providers, cancer survivors and their families in signing an endorsement letter for S. 4742, the CLINICAL TREATMENT Act.

This bipartisan legislation, which was recently introduced by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), would expand access to clinical trials and improve the quality of cancer research by requiring Medicaid to guarantee coverage of the routine care costs of clinical trial participation for Medicaid enrollees with a life-threatening condition. The House version of the bill, H.R. 913, currently has 55 cosponsors representing both parties.

In a support letter to Senators Burr and Cardin, the organizations write, “Robust clinical trial participation improves the quality of medical research. Medicaid serves many demographics, including ethnic minorities and women, that are underrepresented in current clinical trial enrollment. Lack of participation in clinical trials from the Medicaid population means these patients are being excluded from potentially life-saving trials and are not reflected in the outcome of the clinical research. Increased access to clinical trial participation for Medicaid enrollees helps ensure medical research results more accurately capture and reflect the populations of this country.”