Posted by Michael Wonder on 18 Feb 2017
The refusal of Medicare to fund a $60 blood test means cancer patients miss out on treatment
19 February 2017 - Mother of two Lisa Briggs and thousands of other lung cancer patients battling the nation’s deadliest cancer are potentially facing a crippling $100,000 a year bill for a life saving treatment as a result of a deadly bureaucratic catch 22.
Government bureaucrats have rejected a Medicare subsidy for a $60 test that determines the 30% of lung cancer patients that will benefit from the high cost immunotherapy drug Keytruda.
Without approval for the test the government can’t approve a subsidy for the expensive drug that would cut its price to as little as $38.80 for general patients and $6.30 for pensioners.
A recent trial showed Keytruda tripled the life expectancy of many terminally ill non small cell lung cancer patients.
