COLUMBUS, Ohio — Supporters hope the third time’s the charm when it comes to passing a bill that could expand access to some medical tests for Ohio patients. 

What You Need To Know

  • For the third legislative session in a row, State Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, is sponsoring a biomarker bill in the Ohio Statehouse

  • If it is passed, Medicaid and insurance companies would be required to cover the cost of biomarker testing if doctors deem it medically necessary

  • Biomarker testing is a lab analysis of a patient’s tissue or fluid sample doctors can use to determine patient-specific treatments for cancer and other diseases

According to doctors, a person’s biomarkers can help pinpoint patient-specific treatments for cancer and other diseases. A measure reintroduced in the statehouse would require Medicaid and insurance companies cover the cost of that analysis if it is deemed medically necessary.

Opponents of the bill are concerned about the price of insurance premiums going up, but advocates like Alique Topalian said the benefits far outweigh the costs.

“We have better health outcomes when you have less complications,” she said. “That's going to be lowering your health care cost overall.”

Topalian is a research scientist who studies the quality of life for cancer survivors.

“We have more people who are living with cancer than ever before,” she said. “More younger people are getting diagnosed with cancer than ever before.”

Including Topalian, who was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at age 4. Doctors called for a bone marrow transplant.

“I had a 13% chance without it and a 20% chance with it,” she said, about her odds for survival.

But unable to find a match, she joined a clinical trial for biomarker testing, a lab analysis of a patient’s tissue or fluid sample to point doctors toward the most effective attack against the disease.

Topalian said the targeted treatments she received brought her cancer into remission. She now shares her story in the hope of helping all Ohioans and testified before a Statehouse committee in support of legislation to expand access to biomarker testing.

This is the third time State Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, sponsored the measure. Last session, despite some opposition from within the caucus and from the Ohio Association of Health Plans, the measure moved through the lower chamber. But the session ended before the bill could make it through the Ohio Senate.

With the new general assembly underway, supporters like Topalian are hoping to keep the measure’s forward momentum.

“The most important thing is getting these stories and getting them in front of our lawmakers so that they can make an informed decision,” she said. “And see, you know, how many people that this can potentially save over time.”