Greater Clinical Trial Accessibility Yields Better Outcomes

When presented with a serious, life-threatening diagnosis, patients and their loved ones want answers. In some cases, those answers are not yet available, however they are under development. Clinical trials seek to resolve medicine’s unanswered questions. In order for the broadest swath of patients to benefit from clinical trial discoveries, the trial’s patient population should be a reflection of the nation’s demographics. Diversity in clinical trial patient populations expands the applicability of trial results.

For these reasons, H.R. 913/S. 4742 the CLINCAL TREATMENT Act, bipartisan legislation that would require Medicaid to guarantee coverage of the routine care costs of clinical trial participation for Medicaid enrollees with a life-threatening condition, is long overdue. Medicaid serves a large portion of minorities and ethnicities that are under-represented in clinical trial enrollment. Without the guarantee of coverage, many Medicaid beneficiaries with cancer and other life-threatening conditions do not have access to the latest technological and scientific advances as a treatment option. Medicare, private, and commercial payers already guarantee this coverage.

The new standards of care that clinical trial research inform are the answers that patients, their caregivers and providers seek. Patients win when physicians can apply breakthroughs, where applicable, to a treatment plan. Join with Patients and Providers United to keep patients and providers at the center of medical decision making.