John Hoctor of the American Cancer Society says, right now, there are two different standards for traditional intravenous therapies and newer oral therapies.
"Basically, the IV cancer medications are typically covered under a health plan's medical benefits, and that's a difference here because the orals are perceived as a pharmaceutical benefit. So they’re covered under two different areas in insurance, and they’re treated as different options for the patients, and because of that the reimbursements and the cost of the treatment course are very different in the way they are administered, and in the way the insurance company looks at them.”
Fifteen other states have passed similar legislation.