Bill > S0422

This bill, titled the "Cancer Treatment Fairness Act," mandates that individual or group insurance policies and health maintenance contracts in Florida must provide coverage for orally administered cancer treatment medications on terms no less favorable than those for intravenously administered or injected cancer treatment medications. This means that insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) cannot impose less favorable cost-sharing requirements, such as higher copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, or dollar limits, on oral cancer drugs compared to their injected or IV counterparts. The act defines "cancer treatment medication" as any drug prescribed by a physician to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells according to accepted medical standards, and "cost sharing" as any patient's financial contribution towards their treatment. Furthermore, insurers and HMOs are prohibited from altering existing policy terms or contracts to avoid compliance, offering incentives to steer patients away from the mandated coverage, penalizing healthcare providers for recommending or administering these medications, or inducing providers to deviate from the act's requirements. The bill also prevents insurers from changing the classification or increasing cost-sharing for existing intravenous or injected cancer medications solely to comply with this new law. These provisions are set to take effect on July 1, 2013, and will apply to policies and contracts issued or renewed on or after that date.