PHOENIX — Governor Doug Ducey today signed legislation to ensure patients and their doctors have access to innovative testing that can help determine the most effective medical treatment for cancer and other diseases.
Before signing the bill at the Dignity Health Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, the governor said Arizona now joins only a handful of other states in requiring health insurance plans to cover biomarker testing when there’s a clinical need.
“These types of tests have become a crucial part of cancer and other disease therapies and should be available to everyone who wants one,” said Governor Ducey. “Biomarker tests save lives. They help doctors determine the best course of treatment, prevent unnecessary treatments and will help us cure diseases like cancer in the future. No one should be denied this information.”
The legislation, H.B. 2144, was sponsored by Rep. Regina Cobb of Kingman and passed with strong bipartisan support in the Arizona House and Senate. Continue reading→