What are the Costs of Clinical Trials?
When you think about the costs of a clinical trial, you may be thinking about the costs of your care in a clinical trial. These costs are called clinical care costs, things like lab tests, scans, etc. As expensive as those may be, these actually are only a fraction of the total costs of the study. The people who work to make clinical trials a reality are the largest expense. Study coordinators, study nurses, and investigators are the folks you are likely to meet. Pharmacists, laboratory technicians who handle your blood specimens, regulatory specialists (who make sure the trial has all the necessary approvals), and all the people who oversee the clinical trial process and make sure it is being done correctly are working in the background; you will probably never meet them. That seems like a lot of people, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. These are just the people working at the one hospital or research center you are visiting.
There is another large group of people at the pharmaceutical company (or subcontracted by the pharmaceutical company) who develop the study procedures, receive, review, and analyze the results, monitor all side effects, disseminate information to all the researchers (for example, new serious side effect information has to be circulated quickly to everyone who is involved), and interact with the FDA. As you can see, behind every clinical trial, there is an army of people and it all costs a small (or even a large) fortune.
So Who Pays for all This?
That might be
interesting, but it’s probably a safe bet that you care most about the clinical
care costs that will affect you. In general, items that are solely for research
(i.e. the study drug and highly specialized tests that would not otherwise be
done to take care of you and your cancer) are covered by the study budget and
are free to you. All other costs of medical care; the sorts of things that you
would generally expect to need even if you were not in a clinical trial, are
billed to you and your health insurance.
The costs of running
the study are borne by the pharmaceutical company for trials that are sponsored
by a company. Not all studies have an industry sponsor. Some research ideas,
although important, are unlikely to be tested by a pharmaceutical company. For
example, if we find that a commonly used drug that is generic (and cheap) could
have a beneficial use in cancer therapy, there is almost never a pharmaceutical
company that is willing to get involved. The lack of patent protection and
inexpensive cost of generic drugs makes this type research a lousy business
proposition.
Such studies are
typically designed and led by an individual researcher. The investigator must
also find the funding to support it. Sometimes that involves a grant from the
pharmaceutical industry, a grant from a federal source (most commonly the
National Cancer Institute or Department of Defense), or a grant from a private
organization such as the American Cancer Society. Some studies are funded by
philanthropic donors or even the hospital itself. And some studies have no
funding at all. Normally such studies would just not get done, but what often
happens is that the investigator’s team donates their time.
University administrators frown on unfunded studies because the people involved
still get their salaries‑‑from the university. Academic professors can be quite
innovative about these sorts of things when they are truly excited about a new
idea.
Costs of Your Care
and Insurance Coverage of Cancer Clinical Trials
Everyone worries about costs
Misconceptions
and concerns about healthcare costs during cancer clinical trials are very
common. Some patients (and some doctors) think that experimental treatment is
always free. This is almost never true.
There are some studies that do provide all of the care for free, but in the
world of cancer research they are more often the exception than the rule.
Medicare Comes
Through
If
you are over the age of sixty-five, chances are Medicare is a part (or even
all) of your health care coverage. Many insurance companies follow, to one
extent or another, the approach that Medicare takes in deciding what it will
cover and what it won’t.
The Bottom Line
· 1 Until standard cancer therapy is much
more effective and reliable cancer cures are common, participation in clinical
trials should be an option for all cancer patients.
·
2 Medicare covers routine costs of care
for patients who participate in qualified clinical trials. The investigational
drugs or devices themselves and procedures that are purely for research
purposes (not designed to care for you) are not covered. Services that would
not normally be covered under Medicare are not covered.
·
3 Many insurers have policies that provide
for similar coverage, but this varies from plan to plan and state to state.
·
4 The majority of states have now passed
laws that require coverage for clinical trial participants.
·
5 The Health Care Reform Act of 2010
requires all health plans to cover clinical trials by January 1, 2014.
·
6 Large companies that are self-insured
are regulated by the federal ERISA law and may not be impacted by state laws.
ERISA does not address clinical trials.
·
7 Your research team should communicate
with your insurer to gain approval for your coverage before you begin
participation.
· 8 If you are denied coverage, work with
your doctor and research team to appeal. Appealing with knowledge of your
insurer’s policies, your state’s laws, and the particulars of the trial in
which you are interested has the best chance of success. A call from your
doctor to your insurance company’s Medical Director can also be very helpful.
Post Text Here
To put a smile on your face see Larry's latest cartoon.
To learn more about clinical trials, take a look at our book.
(c) 2012 Tom Beer and Larry Axmaker
