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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Frank Burns |
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Burns joins cancer advocacy organizations to rally for
passage of his oral chemotherapy bill
HARRISBURG, Sept. 28 – State Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria/Somerset, joined local cancer advocates at a news conference this morning to fight for better access to care for cancer patients, particularly passage Burns' H.B. 623.
The news conference kicked off the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Central Pennsylvania Chapter Mission Day.
Advocates asked legislators to support Burns' legislation to require health insurers to cover orally administered chemotherapy treatment and ensure Pennsylvania cancer patients have access to life-saving treatments.
"This bill is necessary to ensure that those suffering with cancer receive the absolute best quality of care possible," Burns said. "I would like to thank the brave cancer patients and advocates who shared their personal stories today.
"It is hard to ignore the fact that my legislation has over 100 co-sponsors, and I hope that Mission Day helped convince House leadership that we must take action on this bill," he said.
The legislation would require health-insurance providers that cover intravenous cancer chemotherapy to equally cover oral chemotherapy treatment. The pill form of chemotherapy is known to cause fewer side effects and improve patient quality of life.
Under the bill, co-payments, deductibles, co-insurance provisions and maximum out-of-pocket limits would have to be equal for all patients without regard to how the chemotherapy is administered.
Mission Day 2011 Co-Chairman Greg Katshir, Secretary Eli Avila of the Pa. Department of Health, Dr. David Claxton of Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, cancer survivor Christi Konopski and representatives from the International Myeloma Foundation also participated in the event, which was held in the Capitol Rotunda.
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