Insurers Must Mull Benefits, Costs of Drugs, Editorial Says
A New York Times editorial states that "[m]any patients with advanced cancer must feel great relief" after CMS officials announced that Medicare will maintain coverage for the cancer treatments Avastin and Provenge, despite concerns about the drugs' efficacy and high costs. However, the editorial continues that an "unaddressed issue ... is whether public and private insurance should continue to pay the staggeringly high cost -- reaching $88,000 and $93,000 in some cases -- for drugs that offer modest help to the typical patient."
- "Extremely Expensive Cancer Drugs" (New York Times, 7/6).