A growing number of states have passed legislation or instituted special agreements requiring health plans to pay the cost of routine medical care you receive as a participant in a clinical trial. Links on this page Use this map or this alphabetical list. Overview of the issue. Other resources. Map (click on a blue-highlighted state/location to see the law or agreement and its key provisions)

	Information by State (All States 1)
		Alabama Alaska Arizona 2 Arkansas California 3 Colorado Connecticut 4 Delaware 5 Florida Georgia 6 Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana 7 Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana 8 Maine 9 Maryland 10 Massachusetts 11 Michigan 12 Minnesota Mississippi Missouri 13 Montana Nebraska Nevada 14 New Hampshire 15 New Jersey 16 New Mexico 17 New York North Carolina 18 North Dakota Ohio 19 Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island 20 South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee 21 Texas Utah Vermont 22 Virginia 23 Washington Washington, D.C. 24 West Virginia 25 Wisconsin 26 Wyoming 27

Overview of the issue

"Routine patient care costs" are the usual costs of medical care, such as doctor visits, hospital stays, clinical laboratory tests, x-rays, etc., that you would receive whether or not you were participating in a clinical trial. Some health plans don't cover these costs once you join a trial, even though studies have shown that they are not appreciably higher than costs for patients who are not enrolled in trials. (See Cost of Clinical Trials ²⁸.)

Lack of such coverage is a significant barrier to many patients who might otherwise enroll in a trial. Lack of coverage also makes it harder for researchers to successfully conduct trials that could improve prevention and treatment options.

These laws and agreements do not cover the research costs associated with the conduct of the trial, such as tests purely performed for research purposes. In most cases, such costs would be paid for by the group sponsoring the trial, such as the National Cancer Institute or a pharmaceutical company.

For more of an overview, see Clinical Trials and Insurance Coverage: A Resource Guide ²⁹.

Other Resources

• To find specific trials in PDQ - the National Cancer Institute's database of ongoing cancer clinical trials - go to the PDQ search page ³⁰.
• To understand the basics of clinical trials, please see the variety of articles listed in the Educational Materials About Clinical Trials ³¹ section of this Web site. Of particular interest might be What Is a Clinical Trial? ³²
• Another resource is NCI's State Cancer Legislative Database Program ³³.