I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1730 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require group and individual 
health insurance coverage and group health plans to provide for cost 
sharing for oral anticancer drugs on terms no less favorable than the 
cost sharing provided for anticancer medications administered by a health 
care provider. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2019 
Mr. HIGGINS of New York (for himself, Mr. GUTHRIE, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. BILI-
RAKIS, Mr. KILMER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. OLSON, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mr. BERA, Mr. COLE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 
MCCAUL, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require group 
and individual health insurance coverage and group 
health plans to provide for cost sharing for oral 
anticancer drugs on terms no less favorable than the 
cost sharing provided for anticancer medications adminis-
tered by a health care provider. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cancer Drug Parity 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. PARITY IN COST SHARING FOR ORAL ANTICANCER 
DRUGS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2719A of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–19a) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(e) 
PARITY
IN
COST
SHARING
FOR
ORAL 
ANTICANCER DRUGS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 
group health plan, and a health insurance issuer of-
fering group or individual health insurance coverage, 
that provides benefits with respect to anticancer 
medications administered by a health care provider 
shall provide that any cost sharing for prescribed, 
patient-administered anticancer medications that are 
used to kill, slow, or prevent the growth of cancerous 
cells and that have been approved by the Food and 
Drug Administration is no less favorable than the 
cost sharing for anticancer medications that is intra-
venously administered or injected by a health care 
provider. 
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‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall only 
apply to an anticancer medication that is prescribed 
based on a finding by the treating physician that the 
medication— 
‘‘(A) is medically necessary for the purpose 
of killing, slowing, or preventing the growth of 
cancerous cells; or 
‘‘(B) is clinically appropriate in terms of 
type, frequency, extent site, and duration. 
‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON CERTAIN CHANGES.—A 
group health plan or health insurance issuer may 
not, in order to comply with the requirement of 
paragraph (1), make changes to benefits or replace 
existing benefits with new benefits under the plan or 
health insurance coverage designed to have the effect 
of— 
‘‘(A) imposing an increase in out-of-pocket 
costs with respect to anticancer medications; 
‘‘(B) reclassifying benefits with respect to 
anticancer medications in a way that would in-
crease such costs; or 
‘‘(C) applying more restrictive limitations 
on prescribed orally administered anticancer 
medications than on intravenously administered 
or injected anticancer medications. 
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‘‘(4) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed— 
‘‘(A) to require the use of orally adminis-
tered anticancer medications as a replacement 
for other anticancer medications; 
‘‘(B) to prohibit a group health plan or 
health insurance issuer from requiring prior au-
thorization or imposing other appropriate utili-
zation controls in approving coverage for any 
chemotherapy; or 
‘‘(C) to supersede a State law that pro-
vides greater protections with respect to the 
coverage with respect to orally administered 
anticancer medications than is provided under 
this subsection. 
‘‘(5) COST
SHARING
DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘cost sharing’ includes a deductible, 
coinsurance, copayment, and any maximum limita-
tion on the application of such a deductible, coinsur-
ance, copayment, and similar out-of-pocket ex-
penses.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
2724(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300gg–23(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 2704’’ 
and inserting ‘‘sections 2719A, 2725, and 2726’’. 
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