New Arizona law: insurance must cover cancer biomarker tests
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed legislation requiring health insurers and the state’s Medicaid plan to pay for so-called “biomarker tests” that are needed for many modern cancer treatments.
Friday's signing was hailed by the American Cancer Society, which called biomarker testing a critical step in assessing precision treatments.
Measuring the presence of certain biomarkers such as gene mutations allows doctors to better target certain cancers and can lead to fewer side affects and better quality of life and survival rates.
The bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Reginal Cobb of Kingman was supported by the Mayo Clinic and Phoenix Children's Hospital but opposed by major health insurance companies.
