Axa PPP has extended its cancer coverage to include the clinically effective prostate cancer drug rejected for the NHS because it is too expensive.
As COVER reported yesterday, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) announced in its draft guidance that abiraterone would not be made available for standard NHS use.
It cited the estimated cost of at least £63,200 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) as being too much for the NHS to bear despite it prolonging patients lives by around three months.
The decision prompted the amendments from Axa PPP which said it would now join Bupa and WPA in including coverage for the drug.
A report in the Guardian said the private medical insurance (PMI) provider had changed its stance on the drug and will now consider it eligible for benefit.
John Dubois, a spokesman for Axa PPP, told the paper: "We have done this because we believe it is the right thing to do."
The insurer has recently introduced its new commitment to cancer and heart coverage which included removing all cost and time limits for licensed cancer drugs.
Dr Annabel Bentley, medical director of Bupa Health and Wellbeing, also told the paper that it was already funding the drug for members.
"If a cancer drug is licensed by the European Medicines Agency and is clinically appropriate for our members, we will fund it regardless of cost.
"Bupa routinely funds abiraterone for members whose prostate cancer has spread. We fund cancer treatments for as long they are needed and we do not apply cost or time limits."
