McCaul, Bera, Kelly Introduce Legislation to Expand Clinical Trial Access for Pediatric Cancer Patients
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — founder and co-chair of the Childhood Cancer Caucus — and Caucus Co-Chairs Ami Bera (D-Calif.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) introduced the Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials Act, legislation to ensure pediatric cancer patients can access and afford clinical trials offering cutting-edge treatment.
“Our children and their futures are the most precious investment we have,” said Rep. McCaul. “Today we hosted my annual Childhood Cancer Summit with patients and advocates, and I’m proudly introducing the Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials Act to give these kids and their families hope. I urge my colleagues to support this bill to ensure nothing stands between children and potentially life-saving clinical trials that would, in turn, lead to the development of more cures.”
"I am proud to join a bipartisan group of law makers to take steps towards improving health access for children facing rare diseases," said Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. "Access to life saving pediatric care should not be dependent on the limitations of health coverage. This bill is a huge step forward in supporting working families faced with difficult emotional and financial situations."
Background:
The Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials Act would require insurers to cover out-of-network clinical trials for routine care for children with cancer, if no in-network provider is available. Rep. McCaul introduced this bill on the day of his 14th Annual Childhood Cancer Summit, which brought childhood cancer advocates, researchers, and survivors to Capitol Hill to raise awareness for the pediatric cancer community.
Since the caucus’s founding, Rep. McCaul has successfully led the passage of several bills that are working to end childhood cancer in the United States:
- The Creating Hope Act incentivizes pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs for children with rare pediatric diseases.
- The RACE (Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity) for Children Act allows the most innovative single drug therapy cancer treatments that are available for adults to be studied for use in children.
- The STAR (Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research) Act, the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill ever written, expands research on childhood cancers and works to enhance the quality of life for survivors.
- The STAR Reauthorization Act was signed into law in December.
Earlier this Congress, Rep. McCaul also introduced the Give Kids a Chance Act, which would help provide kids with the same access to combination cancer drugs and therapies that adults receive.
Click here for full text of the Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials Act.
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