Insurance Approval Rates for Clinical Trial Participation Rose Under Affordable Care Act

Approval rates for privately insured patients seeking to enroll in oncology clinical trials increased after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The study is published by Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, by David S. Hong, MD, deputy chair and associate professor in the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston; and Kenneth L. Kehl, MD, a member of MD Anderson’s Division of Cancer Medicine.

Previous studies explained that since 2000, publicly funded Medicare has covered the routine costs of clinical trial participation. Patients who were covered by private insurance often faced a patchwork of coverage options, with different insurers and different states determining whether participation in a clinical trial would be covered. Read more . . .