Senator Portantino’s Cancer Treatment Equity Act Heads to Governor’s Desk

Wednesday, August 31 2022

For Immediate Release: August 31, 2022

Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400

 

Senator Portantino’s Cancer Treatment Equity Act Heads to Governor’s Desk

Sacramento, CA – Senate Bill 987, authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank) which addresses significant disparities in cancer patient access, has passed the Legislature and is headed to the Governor’s desk for signature.  SB 987 provides an equitable model of health care for cancer patients by expanding Medi-Cal patient eligibility for necessary clinical expertise and resources.  

“If signed into law, the Cancer  Care Equity Act will be achieve major milestone in improving access to care by reducing disparities in cancer treatment,” stated Senator Portantino.  “We’ve seen incredible innovation in cancer research  over the past decade, and it is vital that we take an inclusive approach to how we deliver innovations in care more for patients.  With the Governor’s signature, we can move a step closer to making access to leading-edge treatments for Medi-Cal patients a reality.”

The CDC lists cancer as the second-leading cause of death in California. Health insurance doesn’t guarantee access to experts specializing in complex cancer types, promising clinical trials, and advances in personalized, precision cancer treatments.  More than 187,000 Californians are diagnosed with cancer every year, and thousands of them will be misdiagnosed or placed on inappropriate or ineffective treatment.

SB 987, the California Cancer Care Equity Act, aims to improve cancer care access, survival and patient experience by enhancing Medi-Cal patient access to necessary clinical expertise and resources.  The bill parallels the current Medi-Cal coverage model that allows Medi-Cal beneficiaries to have access to certain life-saving care services at a Center of Excellence, even if that center is not included in the member’s provider network.  Specifically, SB 987 expands the existing set of care diagnoses for which such enhanced access is provided and includes clinically necessary cancer care services such as genomic/genetic/transcriptomic/proteomic testing, clinical trials participation, and all necessary cancer-related outpatient and inpatient clinical care, defined episode of care.

“We applaud the State Legislature for passing the California Cancer Care Equity Act, a significant step toward reducing health outcome disparities and fixing how we deliver innovation to patients in need,” said Robert Stone, President and CEO of City of Hope and the Helen and Morgan Chu Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair.  “We hope Governor Newsom will support this effort to connect more Californians, particularly those from historically disadvantaged communities, to the cancer care that gives them the best shot at survival.  This bill provides a strong example to the rest of the nation on how we can expand access to optimal cancer care and we urge him to sign this important reform into law.”

###