States Requiring Coverage of Clinical Trial Costs
A growing number of states have passed legislation or instituted special agreements requiring health plans to pay the cost of routine medical care you receive as a participant in a clinical trial. Links on this page
Map (click on a blue-highlighted state/location [or links below] to see the law or agreement and its key provisions)
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Information by State | ||||||
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Lack of insurance coverage for routine patient care costs is a barrier to enrollment of patients who might otherwise take part in a clinical trial. This lack of coverage also makes it harder for researchers to successfully conduct trials that could improve prevention and treatment options.
Although the laws and agreements listed above address this barrier in many states, coverage varies widely. For example, some states limit coverage to certain trial types. However, starting in 2014, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require health insurers to pay for routine costs of care in approved clinical trials for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Covered clinical trials may include treatment, prevention, and early detection trials. For more information about this law and coverage of clinical trials, see the article, Insurance Coverage Expanding for Cancer Clinical Trials.
The laws and agreements discussed above do not cover the research costs associated with a trial. In most cases, such costs would be paid for by the group sponsoring the trial, such as the National Cancer Institute or a pharmaceutical company.
Visit Paying for Clinical Trials for an explanation of the different clinical trial costs.
- To find specific trials in the National Cancer Institute's list of ongoing cancer clinical trials, visit the clinical trials search page.
- To understand the basics of clinical trials, please see the Learn About Clinical Trials section of this Web site.