health & wellness »

Hard To
Swallow

Cancer patients pay
enormous costs for
oral medications.

Elizabeth Katz | Special to the Jewish News

A

It
on the
the
It may
may be
be beautiful on
outside
what's on
on the
the
outside but
but it's
its what’s
inside
counts
inside
that that
really
counts.

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46 July 28 • 2016

my Harvey, 43, of West
Bloomfield, was diagnosed
with Stage 3C ovarian cancer
in 2009. Since her diagnosis, she has
been through six different chemotherapy
regimens, including the oral chemo-
therapeutic agent Lynparza, which cost
her $3,100 for a two-week supply.
That cost may not have been passed
onto her had Michigan ensured equal
health insurance coverage for both intra-
venous and oral chemotherapies. Oral
chemotherapies typically cost more than
chemotherapies administered by infu-
sion through a vein and health insurers
cover them differently.
“Do we pay for our mortgage and put
food on the table or do we pay for my
chemo?” she said. “It’s heart-breaking.
As a cancer patient, there are so many
other issues you have to deal with.”
She has since gone off Lynparza,
which caused her to lose 70 pounds in
five months. She is now on Taxol, which
is delivered intravenously.
Amid fighting her cancer, Harvey has
traveled to Lansing and Washington,
D.C., throwing her support behind
Senate Bill 625, the “Oral Chemotherapy
Fairness” bill, which would make
Michigan a state that ensures equal
health care insurance coverage for both
intravenous and oral chemotherapies.
“With Michigan being one of the few
states left not to require insurance cover-
age parity, it’s kind of embarrassing,” she
said. “It’s not a matter of convenience,
having equal coverage of both types of
chemotherapy. It’s a matter of life or
death.”
The Michigan Senate in May voted
36-1 in support of the bill to ensure that
insurance coverage of oral anti-cancer
medicines is not more financially restric-
tive than intravenously or injected medi-
cations.
According to the Associated Press,
it would apply to deductibles, co-pays,
coinsurance, other out-of-pocket expens-
es, annual limits and aggregate lifetime
caps. The bill was passed despite opposi-
tion from the insurance industry and
various business groups.
“The bill puts chemotherapy coverage
on an even playing field,” Harvey said. “It
gives you options.”

Amy Harvey

The legislation will now be considered
in the Michigan House, which is on sum-
mer break. It is being studied further in
the House’s Insurance Committee before
any action is taken.
Harvey is being treated at the Barbara
Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, which
supports equal health insurance coverage
for all chemotherapies.
“This legislation is so important for all
cancer patients,” said Justin Klamerus,
M.D., executive vice president and chief
quality officer at Karmanos.
“More and more new drugs approved
by the Food and Drug Administration
are oral chemotherapy agents. If the
legislature does not act, the treatment of
cancer patients like Amy Harvey will be
compromised.”
Harvey added that she has been in
touch with various state representatives
to continue the push for chemotherapy
coverage parity.
“Right now it’s a waiting game,” she
said. “It’s not what you know now, it’s
who you know. The squeaky wheel gets
the oil.”
Harvey said fighting for equal insur-
ance coverage has given her diagnosis
and cancer journey new meaning.
“I feel like I am going to make a
difference, traveling to Lansing and
Washington,” she said. “It’s brought me
to a deeper level of my diagnosis. It’s
not just helping myself. It’s something
important to so many people.”
For now, Harvey stays busy with her
son, Benjamin, 11, and the Young Adults
Support Group at Karmanos. She says
she copes as best as she can with her
chronic cancer, with strong support from
her son and husband, Peter.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” she said. “We
take one day at a time and one step at a
time.”
And she will continue to speak out in
support for the passage of the chemo-
therapy parity bill.
“It’s so important to keep these things
going,” she said. “I fight for those who
have ovarian cancer, but in reality, I fight
for everyone with cancer.”

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Elizabeth Katz is the external marketing and
communications manager for the Barbara Ann
Karmanos Cancer Institute.