Commentary: Cancer Drug Parity Act gives patients access to all available treatments

For all of these hats that I wear — patient, health care provider and advocate — I am speaking out and asking South Carolina lawmakers to get on board with legislation to ensure fair and equitable access to all anti-cancer treatments.

I was diagnosed in 2013 with multiple myeloma and started treatment immediately with stem cell transplant surgery. When I was studying to become a nurse, I remember when stem cell transplants were new, a bit scary and risky. Today, they are much more common.

Likewise, I now take a daily oral medication to keep my cancer in check, something I will do for the rest of my life. Oral anti-cancer treatments are becoming more and more common as well, but because of outdated insurance company policies, some patients don’t have access to these life-saving medications. That has to change.

The Cancer Drug Parity Act of 2019 will do just that.

Read full piece here