Chemotherapy Coverage Debate Prompts Lawmaker’s Admission: ‘I Have Cancer’

State Representative Curry Todd told fellow lawmakers today he is battling a rare form of cancer. His admission came during debate over a new, simpler chemotherapy treatment.

The House Commerce Committee was arguing over a bill to require insurance companies to pay for oral chemotherapy, pills, in their cancer treatment coverage.

Many lawmakers wanted to defer the measure for further study. Enough study, says Memphis Republican Curry Todd — this is personal.

“There is no cure for what I have. I have a type of cancer, three in a million get it. So this is a subject that’s close to my heart, period. And it’s been studied.”

Todd says he suffers from a form of adult leukemia called macroglobulinemia.

He doesn’t take any chemotherapy yet for the slow-growing disease. But Todd says once he does get to that point, he would prefer the pill, because it’s less invasive.

Insurance companies say requiring coverage for the new treatment would cost their customers more money. Proponents say the price increase would be minimal. Todd says it would be easier on the patient.

Committee members deadlocked on deferring the bill for a year on a vote of 13 to 13. So, it’s still on the agenda for next week.

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The bill, HB 1087 Casada/SB 1985 Stewart, hit a speed bump in the House Commerce Committee, which failed on a tie vote (13-13) to either defer the bill or pass it.

The Senate version escaped the Senate Commerce Committee last week on a vote of 5 to 2 with 2 abstaining. In the upper chamber, the bill is ready to go to the Senate floor.

Todd says he understands and identifies with all Tennesseans battling cancer.

“Cancer’s very deadly. It can change, you know, in a heart beat.”

Todd was emotional as he spoke to his colleagues on the House Commerce Committee.

“How many of you have walked into the doctor’s office and he told you you have cancer? I have cancer. Four years ago, I was diagnosed. I’ve kept this personal except for some folks up here. I have incurable cancer.”

The National Cancer Institute “FactSheet” website sums up the disease so:

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare, indolent (slow-growing) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer that begins in the cells of the immune system). WM is also called lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. It starts in white blood cells called B lymphocytes or B cells.

And there’s this (PDF) from the legislative staff’s fiscal note.

A number of Tennesseans are already on the pill version of chemotherapy.
In December 2009, among all TennCare enrollees, there were about 2,300 patients who were receiving such chemotherapy prescriptions. TennCare recipients paid a $3 co-pay for the prescriptions.

Chelsea Kallman contributed to this story.