Washington House Democrats

Tax exemption for many cancer drugs approved by House committee

Linville’s bill could help many patients receiving infused or injected treatments

March 5, 2007

OLYMPIA – Vital cancer-fighting drugs and other treatments, many of them extremely expensive, could be more affordable for Medicare and Medicaid patients, thanks to a bill approved by the House Finance Committee last Thursday.

Rep. Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham) sponsored the bill, which removes the Business and Occupation tax for injected or infused drugs delivered by licensed physicians for cancer and other diseases.

“We need to give physicians and their patients better access to expensive prescription drugs for cancer and other disease treatments,” said Linville.

Linville has very personal experience with the issue, as her husband Will Roehl underwent chemotherapy and stem cell rescue for cancer. She noted the high cost of the injected or infused drugs, and realized there could be a lack of access to those drugs for many physicians and clinics treating patients on Medicare or Medicaid.

Public hospitals, nonprofit hospitals, and nonprofit community health centers are allowed a deduction from B&O tax on health care services covered under the federal Medicare program, as well as from the Basic Health Plan and other medical assistance programs funded by the state of Washington. Amounts billed for these programs by private clinics or physicians are not exempt from tax, and HB 1891 corrects that problem for the prescription drugs.

The business and occupation tax deduction would apply only if the prescription drug amounts are separately stated on invoices or other billing statements and do not exceed the current federal rate. The federal rate means the rate at or below what the federal government reimburses providers for prescription drugs administered to patients through Medicare.

The legislation beat today’s deadline for House bills to get past fiscal committees and now moves to the full House for consideration.

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Information:

HB 1891 documents: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/Summary.aspx?bill=1891&year=2007 

TVW (listen to the hearing and testimony at HB 1891 public hearing): http://www.tvw.org/MediaPlayer/Archived/WME.cfm?EVNum=2007021201&TYPE=A 

Staff: Larry Clark, 360.786.7214, Clark.Larry@leg.wa.gov