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 Overview of the issue

"Routine patient care costs" are the usual costs of medical care, such as doctor visits, hospital stays, clinical laboratory tests, x-rays, etc., that you would receive whether or not you were participating in a clinical trial. Some health plans don't cover these costs once you join a trial, even though studies have shown that they are not appreciably higher than costs for patients who are not enrolled in trials. (See Cost of Clinical Trials ³⁶.)

Lack of such coverage is a significant barrier to many patients who might otherwise enroll in a trial. Lack of coverage also makes it harder for researchers to successfully conduct trials that could improve prevention and treatment options.

These laws and agreements do not cover the research costs associated with the conduct of the trial, such as tests purely performed for research purposes. In most cases, such costs would be paid for by the group sponsoring the trial, such as the National Cancer Institute or a pharmaceutical company.

For more of an overview, see Clinical Trials and Insurance Coverage ³⁷.

 Other Resources

• To find specific trials in the National Cancer Institute's list of ongoing cancer clinical trials - go to the clinical trials search page ³⁸.
• To understand the basics of clinical trials, please see the Learn About Clinical Trials ³⁹ section of this Web site.
• Another resource is NCI's State Cancer Legislative Database Program ⁴⁰.

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