Senate Votes in Support of Access to HPV Vaccine

HB 2794 requires insurers to cover costs for females 11 – 26 years old.

Teenager receiving HPV vaccine during Vaccination Week in the Americas, El Paso, TX, 22 April 2008 (Photo by Sonia M. Mey-PAHO/WHO)

(SALEM, Ore.) - The Senate voted this morning to support House Bill 2794, a bill that requires insurance coverage for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for females between 11 and 26 years of age.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, with approximately 20 million people currently infected, and is the main cause of cervical cancer in women.

“This bill is intended to expand coverage for this preventative and possibly life saving vaccine,” said Senator Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland), who carried the bill on the floor as the chief Senate sponsor.

“Currently, most insurance companies already cover the cost of this vaccine, yet with this bill, we can ensure that all companies will continue this practice and ensure that any new companies coming to Oregon will remain consistent with this standard of coverage.”

In 2006 the US Food and Drug Administration approved for females aged 9 to 26 a vaccine effective against the HPV types that cause the majority of cervical cancers.

The HPV vaccine is between 95-100% effective against these types of HPV. Routine immunization of young women against HPV should prevent approximately 70% of cervical cancers.

“This is preventative care for our daughters and granddaughters,” said Deputy Majority Leader Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham).

“We have a moral obligation to future generations of women to make sure they have the coverage they need to prevent disease and lead healthy lives.”

In Oregon, there are approximately 111 new cases of cervical cancer and 41 deaths per year. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, 11,070 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S., of whom approximately 3,600 will die.

House Bill 2794 is a key piece of the Oregon Women’s Health and Wellness Alliance’s 2009 legislative agenda and was sponsored in the House by Representative Carolyn Tomei (D-Milwaukie). The bill now goes to the House for concurrence.