The Parity Paradigm: Can Legislation Help Reduce the Cost Burden of Oral Anticancer Medications?

Published

Journal Article

Over the last decade, there has been increased development and use of oral anticancer medications, which sometimes leads to high cost sharing for patients. Drug parity laws require insurance plans to cover oral anticancer medications with the same cost sharing as intravenous/injected chemotherapy or have a capped limit on out-of-pocket costs. There are currently 36 enacted state laws (plus the District of Columbia) addressing drug parity, but no federal laws. In this policy perspective piece, we discuss the history, opportunities, and limitations of drug parity laws in oncology. We also discuss the implications of provisions of the Affordable Care Act and other proposed policy reforms on financing oral chemotherapy.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Kircher, SM; Meeker, CR; Nimeiri, H; Geynisman, DM; Zafar, SY; Shankaran, V; de Souza, J; Wong, Y-N

Published Date

  • January 2016

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 19 / 1

Start / End Page

  • 88 - 98

PubMed ID

  • 26797241

Pubmed Central ID

  • 26797241

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1524-4733

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.jval.2015.10.005

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States