For many patients with cancer, intravenous chemotherapy treatments can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, as they require patients to leave the comfort of their homes to visit their clinician’s office. In recent years, alternatives to infused therapeutic treatments have begun to emerge and oral treatments have become more popular. Oral treatments allow patients to take the medication from the comfort of their homes, without being inconvenienced by burdensome doctor visits. However, increased convenience has come at a steep cost to patients, as patients taking oral chemotherapy often pay more for oral medications because insurers consider oral chemotherapy a pharmacy benefit, rather than a medical benefit like IV chemotherapy, which typically requires patients to cover a percentage of the drug’s overall cost. Fortunately, states have begun to take action to require health plans to provide the same cost-sharing requirements on both oral and IV chemotherapy treatments. The below map details which states have passed laws imposing such requirements:
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