Erpenbach Applauds Governor for Signing the Cancer Patient Protection Act

MADISON -- State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) applauded Governor Doyle for today’s signing of Assembly Bill 617, The Cancer Patient Protection Act.

“This bill will go a long way toward making sure that people suffering from cancer have access to every treatment available to them,” said Erpenbach, a co-author of the bill.

The legislation requires insurance companies to cover cancer treatments associated with clinical trials. 26,000 Wisconsin residents were diagnosed with cancer last year alone. While treatment options may be available, insurance companies do not always cover them because they are clinical trials. The bill allows people to decide what is medically best for them without having the added worry of having to figure out how to afford it.

In addition to directly helping participants in these clinical trials by allowing them access to new therapies, the research they participate in could pave the way for future life-saving treatments. It will also encourage even more people to participate in the trials.

“We need to make it easier for people to have access to adequate health care coverage, life-saving treatments, and prescriptions, and that’s exactly what this bill does,” said Erpenbach.