I am glad to announce that on Thursday, Feb. 20, Senate Bill 668 — sponsored by Sen. Ryan Silvey — was passed in the Senate and sent to the Missouri House of Representatives. This bill is very similar to my own bill, Senate Bill 663, which was voted out of committee unanimously last week.

Senator Silvey and I both believe legislation is necessary to correct the current unequal co-payments for orally administered chemotherapy drugs versus the intravenously infused or injectable versions available to Missouri citizens. We hope that one of these bills will become Missouri law and address this need.

Oral chemotherapy drugs are covered under the “prescription drug benefit” provision of most health insurance plans, which requires a significantly higher co-payment than the intravenously infused (IV) or injected versions. These co-pays can run anywhere from just a few dollars, up to thousands per month for patients, depending on the case.

Insurance providers calculate all the added costs associated with intravenous or injected treatments, such as office visits, nurses, or medicine, before calculating the percentage of co-payment for the patient. Oral chemotherapy, which has few to no additional costs, still has a higher out-of-pocket cost for patients than the previous treatment method.

Besides the much higher out-of-pocket cost, some new research shows medical advantages to taking the oral treatment over the traditional IV or injection methods. The pill versions can be less toxic to patients, which reduce side effects, and some cancers have shown higher response rates. I believe that Missouri patients and doctors should be able to choose the best treatment for their cases without being pushed one way by insurance providers.

Both of these bills aim to correct the issue by prohibiting higher co-pays for orally administered options. They also include a clause specifying that health care providers cannot increase costs of intravenously infused and injectable co-pays in order to adhere to this rule.

Either of these pieces of legislation would open the doors for our citizens to have the right to choose the treatments that would most benefit their recovery without having to pay extra.

I would also like to take a moment and encourage you all to be careful driving in the coming weeks. I am sure we will be thankful for this precipitation, come summer, but it is causing some treacherous roadways right now. I would like to thank our MoDOT road crews for working so hard during this time, but still continue to be cautious in your travels and be sure to check on your neighbors, even though it seems the worst of this winter may be behind us.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office. Thank you.