EDITORIAL: Jimmy Carter Cancer Treatment Access Act a case of fairness

While a legislative session can generate potential laws that are more controversy than good government, a measure awaiting the governor’s signature would mean a great deal to the many Georgians who are battling cancer.

House Bill 965, The Honorable Jimmy Carter Cancer Treatment Access Act, would give stage four cancer patients better access to lifesaving treatment options by removing the hurdles that can be placed in their way. There was only one “nay” vote in the Senate against this bill, which passed unanimously in the House, though there were 16 lawmakers between the two chambers who either didn’t vote or were excused the day the vote was taken.

HB 965, in a nutshell, provides that “no health benefit plan shall require an insured to fail to successfully respond to a drug or drugs for stage four advanced, metastatic cancer prior to the approval of a drug prescribed by his or her physician.”

What brought this legislation by state Rep. Mike Cheoka, R-Americus, to the forefront was the high-profile medical case involving former President Jimmy Carter. last August, Carter publicly acknowledged that he had a melanoma, and that it had spread to his liver and brain. Carter was treated with surgery and radiation, but a new immunotherapy drug, Keytruda, also was used. In December, Carter said that tests had found no more signs of the cancer. The hope for him — as it is for all cancer patients — is that the treatment will prevent new lesions from forming.

Drugs like Keytruda, which was fast-tracked by the FDA in 2014 for melanoma treatment, are expensive and insurers are businesses. Like any business, they have to control expenses.

The decision on treatment, however, should be based on what’s best for the patient. If the patient’s physician believes an FDA-approved option that is consistent with best practices for treatment of the cancer is needed, roadblocks such as first requiring the patient to fail successfully respond to other drugs or prove that other drugs have a histories of failure would be removed by the law.

Most of us know someone who has or has had cancer. This bill is one that, because of its subject matter, evokes a strong emotional reaction. But this shouldn’t be decided on that. The reason for the law is that, as stated in the bill, “it is the intent of the General Assembly that every Georgian with health insurance that covers cancer should have the same access to cancer drugs as President Carter.”

It’s a case of fairness as much as it is hope, two things that Gov. Deal can bring to Georgians with the stroke of a pen.

— The Albany Herald Editorial Board