For more information about insurance coverage of clinical trial costs, see this feature's main page: States That Require Health Plans to Cover Patient Care Costs in Clinical Trials.

Legislation: Senate Bill 181

Effective: July 2001

What clinical trials are covered?

Clinical trials for treatment, palliation (supportive care), or prevention of cancer approved by one of the following:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• NIH cooperative group or center
• U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• Institutional Review Board that has a Multiple Project Assurance (MPA) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections.
• A qualified research entity that meets the criteria for NIH Center Support grant eligibility.

Who is required to pay?

Every group or blanket policy.

Other key provisions:

• The trial must have therapeutic intent and enroll individuals diagnosed with the disease.
• The trial must not be designed exclusively to test toxicity or disease pathophysiology (the functional changes that accompany a particular syndrome or disease).