Senate Bill 316 Passes with Help of Komen Oregon!

After many months of advocacy work by OHSU, the Oregon and SW Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and others across the state, Senate Bill 316 was signed into law on June 16 by Governor Kulongoski, mandating insurance companies to cover standard care while patients are on clinical trials. The law goes into effect January 1, 2010, and requires health benefit plans to provide coverage of routine costs of care in qualifying clinical trials, subject to copayment and other cost sharing requirements.

The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute effort, coordinated by Brandon Hayes-Lattin, M.D., worked tirelessly with community groups and patient advocates like Brenda Eichelberger to support passage of this bill. Other partner agencies in the effort included Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the American Cancer Society, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as well as many non-cancer related organizations. During session, Hayes-Lattin, Knight director Brian Druker, M.D., and Komen Executive Director Chris McDonald testified before the legislature to emphasize the importance of this bill to the health of cancer patients and the progress of science.