If you participate in a clinical trial, the study medication and visits with the care team will be provided to you at no cost. However, you may have to pay for other costs associated with trial participation, such as transportation, parking, child or elder care, meals, lodging, over-the-counter medications for side effects, and co-pays for tests and procedures that are considered standard of care (these are often covered by insurance, but some people don’t have insurance or don’t have enough insurance). These extra costs create financial hardship and may cause people to not participate in a trial or drop out of a trial.
New efforts are underway to remove some of these financial hardships and make trial participation more accessible to everyone. Click the links below to learn more about these ongoing efforts as well as financial resources that are currently available.
New Efforts to Reduce the Financial Burden of Clinical Trial Participation
- Equitable Access to Clinical Trials: The Equitable Access to Clinical Trials project aims to remove financial burdens that may be part of clinical trial participation
- American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: Proposed federal legislation aims to address financial and geographic barriers to clinical trial participation
- Stat News: An important component of this bill is that the first $2,000 in payments a trial participant receives from a clinical trial sponsor are not subject to taxation
Available Financial Resources
- Metastatic Trial Talk: Where to Find Financial Support