For individuals with brain tumors and other life-threatening illnesses, the best treatment option they can find may be enrollment in a clinical trial. In addition to being an avenue for providing high-quality health care, clinical trials answer questions about the effectiveness of promising new treatments. Treatment advances can only be made if clinical trials are viewed as a positive option that patients take advantage of.

In September 2000, the Medicare program removed reimbursement as a potential barrier to enrollment in clinical trials for senior citizens. Any Medicare beneficiary who enrolls in a qualified clinical trial, defined essentially as those trials that are funded or approved by the federal government, will be ensured of payment for his or her routine patient care costs. This action by the Medicare program removes one serious barrier to clinical trials.

Brain tumor advocates and other patient advocates are now working to guarantee that those in the private sector enjoy the same clinical trials access as Medicare beneficiaries and to remove any other barriers to clinical trials enrollment.

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition (NABTC) recommendations:

A comprehensive clinical trials coverage provision should be included in all versions of the Patients' Bill of Rights. The legislation should ensure private insurance coverage for trials funded by federal agencies or approved, through investigational new drug (IND) exemption, by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

If the Patients' Bill of Rights is not promptly enacted, the 107th Congress should enact H.R. 967, a bill to require private insurance coverage of cancer clinical trials.