THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

65

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

SUPPORTING CONGRESSIONAL ENACTMENT OF MEDICARE COVERAGE OF ORAL CANCER DRUGS.

 

WHEREAS, cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the State of Hawaii and throughout the Nation; and

WHEREAS, cancer is disproportionately a disease of the elderly, with more than half of all cancer diagnoses occurring in persons age 65 or older, who are thus dependent on the federal Medicare program for provision of cancer care; and

WHEREAS, treatment with anti-cancer drugs is the cornerstone of modern cancer care, elderly cancer patients must have access to potentially life-extending drug therapy, but the Medicare program’s coverage of drugs is limited to injectable drugs or oral drugs that have an injectable version; and

WHEREAS, the nation’s investment in biomedical research has begun to bear fruit with a compelling array of new oral anti-cancer drugs that are less toxic, more effective and more cost-effective than existing therapies, but, because such drugs do not have an injectable equivalent, they are not covered by Medicare; and

WHEREAS, non-coverage of these important new products leaves many Medicare beneficiaries confronting the choice of either substantial out-of-pocket personal costs or selection of more toxic, less effective treatments that are covered by the program; and

WHEREAS, Medicare’s failure to cover oral anti-cancer drugs leaves at risk many beneficiaries suffering from blood-related cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, as well as cancers of the breast, lung, and prostate; and

WHEREAS, certain Members of the United States Congress have recognized the necessity of Medicare coverage for all oral anti-cancer drugs and introduced legislation in the l07th Congress to achieve that result (H.R. 1624; S. 913), now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Congress of the United States is respectfully requested to enact legislation requiring the Medicare program to cover all oral anticancer drugs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Medicare coverage; oral cancer drugs