A law inspired by the treatment and recovery of former President Jimmy Carter from liver and brain cancer could – and should – have implications across the country.
The bill, passed by both houses of Georgia’s legislature and now on its way to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature, is narrowly focused but says any insurance company that offers health care plans in the state cannot force patients to first fail to respond to other treatments before trying more advanced regimens like the one that helped the former president.
Carter, in his status as the country’s former chief executive, had access to the very best treatment and the most up-to-date doctors armed with the latest information in the field when he was diagnosed with four small melanoma lesions on his brain last August.
Further, he could pay for more expensive regimens if his insurance company would not.
Carter’s treatment plan at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University called for the drug pembroluzimab and radiation therapy.