California legislature passes HPV vaccine coverage bill

Sacramento, CA

The Legislature passed a bill Thursday to require insurers to cover vaccinating young women against the virus that causes cervical cancer.
The vote was 49-26, according to the announcement. The bill now heads to the governor's desk.

"This vaccine saves lives," said Assemblywoman Noreen Evans,

D-Santa Rosa, who represents Vallejo and was the bill's co-author. "California has more cases of cervical cancer than any state in the country. We routinely vaccinate our youth for other diseases. It's foolish not to add this vaccine to that list."

Assembly Bill 16 also requires health plans and insurers that include coverage for the treatment of cervical cancer to provide coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening test. The bill would expand existing preventative care coverage requirements to include vaccination for the human papillomavirus which causes most cervical cancer cases.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006, the vaccine is 98 percent effective when administered to patients with no prior HPV exposure, Evans' office notes.

Current law fails to protect millions of women within the full age range - 11 to 26 - recommended by the FDA for receiving the vaccine, Evans' office added. The vaccine is administered in three doses over six months and costs about $360.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 11,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year. In California, almost 1,400 women will be diagnosed with the disease and nearly 400 will die from it.
AB 16 passed the Senate 25-13 last month. AB 16 mirrors Evans legislation that was vetoed by the governor last year.

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