Committee approves Valladares’ cancer care bill

News release

The Senate Business, Professions & Economic Development Committee has unanimously approved Sen. Suzette Valladares’ Senate Bill 508, which would provide patients with greater flexibility and more access to their established specialized care provider, according to a news release from the senator’s office. 

“I am thankful that the committee understands the importance of expanding access to specialized care for cancer patients,” Valladares, R-Acton, said in the release. “For some patients, the best, most specialized cancer care is out of state and hard to get to, particularly when health condition or age makes traveling difficult. This bill will ensure that patients who start care with an out-of-state provider are able to continue receiving care from that physician.”   

Under current law, telehealth visits between physicians and patients are confined within state borders, with exceptions for individuals with terminal diagnoses or those enrolled in clinical trials. If a patient no longer meets the criteria, the patients must end care with that provider.  

Senate Bill 508 seeks to improve the continuum of care by allowing patients, who at one point met these requirements, to continue to have telehealth visits with their out-of-state provider, the release said. 

SB 508 will next be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee.   

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