Frederica Freyberg:

Last night the state assembly amended a senate bill that would require health insurance plans to charge the same for the pricey chemo pills as for intravenous chemotherapy. The assembly adjustment would cap co-pays at $100 a month for the pills. The bill now heads back to the senate. It was co-authored by Senator Alberta Darling and our first guest this evening, Assembly majority leader, Pat Strachota, of West Bend. Representative, thanks very much for joining us.

Pat Strachota:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

You co-authored this bill, as we just said, that passed overwhelmingly in the state senate. Why did it have to be amended in the assembly?

Pat Strachota:

Well, it came over to the assembly and I– We have a larger number in the assembly. We have 60 members. And I was trying to get 50 of those members comfortable with the bill so that I could have overwhelming support also for what I call the Cancer Treatment Fairness Act. I should also say, the amendment that I put on is very similar to what they’re doing in other states at this time. When the oral chemotherapy was started, or Parody, was started in the state of Indiana this was not something that was talked about. In the state since 2004– I shouldn't say 2004, 2013. They've been giving– It’s an either/or. Either you can have Parody or you can have a cap in your health

Frederica Freyberg:

And you think that this amendment still keeps this a good bill?

Pat Strachota:

Oh, I think it keeps it an excellent bill. What it does is it keeps some flexibility to healthcare plans that are going to be out there our citizens, and those that are dealing with cancer. I wouldn't have put it forward if I didn't believe that it just gives some various options. Because, what happens on a Parody plan if you have a 20% co-pay and these drugs are thousands of dollars? You could be, you know, subject to paying $2,000 a month. Under this co-pay, if that’s how your plan is set up, you’ll be able to say, okay, the co-pay is capped at $100 a month.

Frederica Freyberg:

What’s the word whether the senate will now take up the amended version?

Pat Strachota:

Well, as you mentioned before, Senator Alberta Darling has worked closely with me in trying to get this measure through both our houses. We’ve been working on it the last four years. I believe that she’s looking at the amendment right now, and I’m confident that the senate will take it up.

Frederica Freyberg:

That’s good news for you and for Senator Darling for sure. Now, if it passes and is signed into law by the governor, who has expressed that he would sign it, what will this oral chemotherapy bill mean for people who need that treatment?

Pat Strachota:

Well, what it means is that if you are getting– You’ll be able to afford your treatments, whatever they charge you or what is being charged right now. For intravenous, if it's under a medical plan, they will have to charge under the Parody aspect of this bill. They’ll have to charge you the same for an oral chemotherapy drug.

Frederica Freyberg:

Why is–

Pat Strachota:

And it will make–

Frederica Freyberg:

Go ahead.

Pat Strachota:

Okay. It will make things, I believe, a lot more affordable for cancer patients. What we heard out there, and the reason that I did $100 co-pay, is because 10% of individuals that have to pay, you know, above $100 really stopped their treatment. And that’s because, you know, it does get to be so costly. So we were trying to give individuals an option, you know, so they would be able to limit what their expense would be.

Frederica Freyberg:

What have you heard out there, as well, about why people might prefer to take a chemotherapy pill at home than go in and be under the guidance of an intravenous setting?

Pat Strachota:

You know, a lot of times the oral chemotherapy, and why I got involved with the bill is because the oral chemotherapy treatment is sometimes better, is a better treatment for cancer than the intravenous treatment. But sometimes it was cost-prohibitive because the oral drug was covered under a pharmaceutical benefit and the intravenous was covered under the medical, so the medical would pick up 100% of the cost or, you know, you’d have a smaller co-pay, and under the pharmaceutical, if the drug was very expensive, they would not pick up as much of cost. And so the reason, as I said before, people would not choose probably a better treatment option because of the expense. And so that’s why we asked for Parody. And it’s a simple bill. Parody is that if you, you know whatever the plan says, how they’ll treat your chemotherapy intravenous treatments, will be the same way they treat your chemotherapy oral treatments.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Pat Strachota, thanks very much for joining us.

Pat Strachota:

Thank you.