HARTFORD – Two state senators will discuss the importance of biomarker testing for cancer patients and the important role it plays in diagnosis and treatment when they hold an informational meeting for the public at 12 p.m. today at the Legislative Office Building.
State Senators Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, and Jeffrey Gordon, R-Woodstock, will join the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the CBIA Bioscience Council for the session. Both Anwar and Gordon are medical doctors, and Gordon is a former president of the Connecticut State Medical Society.
Anwar said there have been concerns, mostly surrounding cost, about proposed legislation that sought to provide Medicaid coverage for biomarker testing for patients.
According to the National Cancer Institute, biomarker testing is the method of taking a sample of blood, tissue, or other fluids to check for the presence of genes, proteins, or other molecules which may be a sign of a disease such as cancer.
Anwar said the technology associated with biomarker testing is evolving so quickly, that it is making it possible to find the presence of disease earlier, which can lead to better outcomes – in the way of personalized treatment plans – for patients.
Anwar added that families of youths afflicted with rare diseases would spend a long time not knowing what disease they were dealing with. “They waited 10, 15, 20 years before they could find out what is wrong with their loved ones.”
However, a bill that would have made it mandatory for those on Medicaid never made it out of committee.
Many who testified in a February public hearing on the matter supported the bill.
Linda Alderman, a breast cancer survivor and Connecticut State Lead Volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, testified that the bill would have saved money for health insurers.
“It seems counterintuitive to me that Medicaid doesn’t cover biomarker testing because it could lead to a significant cost savings,” according to Alderman’s testimony. “For example, in my case, the biomarker test not only saved my health insurer from the significant cost of chemotherapy, but also from all of the future health care I most likely would have needed to not only treat the typical side effects of chemotherapy, but also for the medical and behavioral care, as well as the occupational therapy and lifelong care I would have required if my cognitive function had been permanently and/or further impaired.”
Another bill requiring coverage of certain health conditions also never made it through committee.
Again, while many who supported the bill cited the importance of biomarker testing to successfully and specifically address a certain illness in a given patient, others cited the burden of the costs.
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association submitted testimony against the bill, adding that a complete cost-benefit analysis would be necessary before making it a mandate.
“Connecticut employers list healthcare costs as one of their top concerns. Through cost-sharing, business owners cover an average 76% of premiums on behalf of their employees. Connecticut has the sixth highest healthcare expenditures per enrollee in the country. That figure directly correlates to the number of state health benefit mandates,” according to testimony submitted by W. Wyatt Bosworth, Assistant Counsel at the CBIA.
Anwar said he agrees the cost analysis should be done so all parties can reach a consensus going forward.
“We need to have these conversations,” Anwar said.
The forum can be viewed via YouTube Live (see below).
