Who Pays for Clinical Trials? What's Covered and What's Not

If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial as part of your cancer treatment, you may be wondering about the costs.

“There are different layers of costs involved in participating in clinical trials,” says June Y. Hou, MD, Gynecologic Oncologist at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center. “I always encourage [people interested in participating] to talk to the research team and to navigate some of that information early on.”

What costs will you be responsible for?

You may have some travel-related costs if your clinical trial takes place farther from home. It’s important to consider these costs when deciding if a clinical trial is for you. Some of the costs may include:

• Hotels or lodging

• Transportation

• Meals

• Child care

• Elder care

What will the clinical trial sponsor cover?

The treatments being studied should be covered by the sponsor of the clinical trial. The sponsor refers to the pharmaceutical company, hospital, university, or other entity that is running the trial.

Also, this sponsor will typically cover the costs of any extra lab tests that are part of the clinical trial, such as blood tests, imaging studies, or biopsies.

What will insurance cover?

Insurance companies usually cover standard-of-care treatments that you receive as part of a clinical trial. This may include medications, doctor visits or routine lab work.

However, the type of insurance you have may affect your coverage. For example, government insurance like Medicaid may cover the costs of the clinical trial participation directly. But other insurances like Medicare may choose to reimburse you for some or all of the costs related to the clinical trial.

If you don’t have health insurance, you should check with organizations such as the National Community Oncology Research Program. They may be able to offer you financial support. Some of the clinical trials themselves may also be able to offer financial support.

Either way, talk to your insurance company and the research coordinators on the clinical to find out which costs you’ll be responsible for.

“It’s really important to check with your personal and specific insurance company just to gain an understanding about anticipated [costs] that may be related to clinical trials,” says Hou.