NEW YORK – A bill to ensure biomarker testing is covered by state-regulated insurance plans, including Medicaid, last week cleared the New Jersey Senate Commerce Committee and advanced to the Budget and Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
If enacted, New Jersey Senate Bill 3098 would require insurers to cover biomarker testing for the diagnosis, treatment, management, and ongoing monitoring of a patient's disease, if such testing is supported by medical and scientific evidence, including US Food and Drug Administration labeling, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services national coverage determinations, and nationally recognized guidelines.
"Biomarker testing and precision medicine are improving lives by tailoring treatments to the specific subtype [of] disease each patient faces," Quinton Law, government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in New Jersey, said in a statement. "Too many people still struggle to access biomarker tests due to barriers, including inadequate insurance coverage. … It's time to eliminate these barriers and ensure everyone who can benefit from biomarker testing has access to it."
The General Assembly version of the bill, Assembly Bill 4163, was approved by that chamber's Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee earlier this year and is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
To date, 21 states have passed laws mandating access to biomarker testing, including Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas, among others. However, the details of the mandates vary among states. For example, New Jersey's law would cover all diseases, while some states, such as Arkansas and California, mandate biomarker coverage only in cancer.