West Virginia lawmakers proposed a bill in January that would require payers covering cancer chemotherapy to also cover scalp cooling.
Scalp cooling can help prevent or limit hair loss during chemotherapy. Under HB 4089, along with the mandate, insurers would also be allowed to apply annual deductibles, coinsurance and copayments if the state commissioner deems fit.
These provisions would apply to insurers doing business in the state on or after Jan. 1, 2027. Affected payers range from the state employee health plan to the Medicaid program to commercial insurers.
Jessica Huffman, DNP, RN, is the vice president of system nursing strategies at Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Medicine. She is the bill’s namesake and had testified in its favor. The bill passed the state’s House of Delegates Feb. 11 and is now awaiting a Senate vote. Coverage had been proposed in 2025, as well, but the bill did not move forward.
Benefits like scalp cooling have not only been a discussion in West Virginia. New York was the first in the country to mandate scalp-cooling coverage for many large-group health insurance policies. However, the New York State Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans expressed concerns over affordability.
“We must be honest about the economics. Every time the state adds a new mandate, it increases the underlying cost of insurance,” Lev Ginsburg, executive director of NYSCOP, said in a statement shared with Becker’s.
