Clinical Treatment Act: Support and Progress

As patient leaders and advocates, we’re happy to share that 16 Members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors of the CLINICAL TREATMENT Act (H.R. 913), which would guarantee coverage of the routine care costs of clinical trial participation for Medicaid enrollees with a life-threatening condition. If you’re not familiar with the Clinical Treatment Act, you can read more about it on our Advocacy Page here.

Under the ACA, those with private insurance, such as an individual or employer-sponsored plan, must have the routine costs of participating in a clinical trial covered by the plan. There are similar protections for those with Medicare, military, and veterans’ plans.

Medicaid remains the major gap in coverage.  This leaves 1 in 5 Americans without coverage of routine costs when participating in a clinical trial. Since clinical trials are the primary way we get scientific advancements and new treatments, participation is critical. But only 5% of people diagnosed with cancer participate in a clinical trial. Lack of Medicaid coverage is a significant barrier to participation.

How can you take action?

Being an advocate can be simpler than you think. One way to get involved is to reach out to your elected officials urging them to make this issue a priority. On our Advocacy Page, we provide information on the social media handles of elected officials.

Thanks to our partners at ASCO, here are some sample social media posts you can copy and send to elected officials, by tagging them in the posts below:

  • We can improve the quality of our medical research and reduce disparities at the same time. Congress, pass the CLINICAL TREATMENT Act and give every patient the opportunity to access new treatments and participate in research. #ClinicalTrialAccess
  • All patients with a life-threatening disease deserve access clinical trials. 86+ patient and provider organizations have come together to support #ClinicalTrialAccess. We ask Congress to pass the CLINICAL TREATMENT Act today!
  • My Medicaid patients deserve equal #ClinicalTrialAccess. I support passage of the CLINICAL TREATMENT Act.

For more information on how to become an empowered advocate, be sure to check out our Advocacy resources hereor watch our webinar on Twitter as an Advocacy Tool.

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