In an interview, White told this outlet that biomarker tests look for certain “markers” or mutations within the body’s cells, blood or tissue that have been linked with serious diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and more.
From there, White explained, medical professionals can match a person’s biomarkers with a treatment option with the best efficacy rate best suited for that person’s specific biomarkers.
Within cancer care alone, there are nearly 80 biomarker-specific treatments. According to The American Cancer Network, biomarkers can also also indicate whether a person’s cancer is likely to spread, whether treatments are working, whether a person has high risk for certain cancers, or whether a person’s cancer may return.
“We know now — there is so much evidence — that access to biomarker testing is not only saving lives and extending lives, but it is also saving a considerable amount of money because patients aren’t getting unnecessary treatment or getting unnecessarily sick from the wrong treatment at the wrong time,” White said.
The bill
White’s House Bill 8 would require private insurers, and Ohio’s Medicaid program, to “cover medically necessary biomarker testing for specified purposes when need for the test is supported by medical or scientific evidence,” according to the legislature’s nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission.
White said the bill looks to create a uniform mandate for Ohioans. Some private insurers, she said, cover the single-gene testing while others cover full-panel testing.
“What we find is a patchwork of inconsistent coverage across the state,” she said. “We have had numerous patients write in or come in and testify that, basically, their insurance company denied them access to pay for the biomarker testing when, in fact, the physicians are saying ‘You must have this test in order for us to proceed with treatment.’”
Leo Almeida, director of government relations in Ohio for the American Cancer Society, told this outlet that insurance companies pay an average of $224 per biomarker test. That same test for someone uninsured or uncovered can cost patients thousands of dollars. His organization is a primary supporter of H.B. 8.
Previous legislation
Similar efforts have failed in general assemblies' past. In 2024, White’s legislation passed the House 77-to-17 with bipartisan support but ultimately stalled in the Senate.
Back then, its most notable opponents included the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the Ohio Association of Health Plans (OAHP), the latter of which argued that forcing mandates on private insurers was an unnecessary overstep of the government’s authority.
“It’s important to know that health plans are not opposed to biomarker testing; in fact, health plans already cover multiple biomarker tests today,” Megan Richwine, director of government relations for OAHP. “However, we are opposed to covering any and all biomarker tests that do not meet a health plan’s medical necessity criteria.”
H.B. 8 awaits further vetting from proponents and opponents alike in the House Health Committee.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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