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‘Fail first’ no more: Pennsylvania moves to expand coverage of treatments for advanced cancers

The state House on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would abolish the heavily criticized “fail first” approach, which requires stage IV cancer patients to show no improvement with cheaper, insurance-approved drugs before moving on to more innovative approaches.

In this May 25, 2017 file photo, chemotherapy drugs are administered to a patient at a hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C.
In this May 25, 2017 file photo, chemotherapy drugs are administered to a patient at a hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C.Read moreGerry Broome / AP