Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2015 passed by US Senate

The Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2015, which was introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon), Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah), Edward Markey (Democrat, Maryland) and Sherrod Brown (Democrat, Ohio) and co-sponsored by an additional 12 Senators, was passed yesterday.

The Act would make permanent the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2009 (IACT). IACT passed in 2010, and is set to expire in October. It would eliminate barriers to participate in clinical trials for people with rare diseases.

IACT allows those living with rare diseases to participate in clinical trials without counting up to $2,000 of the compensation they receive as income when calculating eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. Previously, some people with rare diseases could not participate in clinical research for fear that the compensation would make them ineligible to receive government medical benefits. This issue also compounded the struggle researchers faced in recruiting people for clinical trials from already limited patient populations.