House OKs cost limits for new cancer drugs
Newly created cancer drugs that can be taken orally would be less expensive under legislation approved by the state House on Friday.
House Bill 943, by Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, would require insurance companies that provide cover for intravenous cancer medications to charge no more than a $200 co-pay for medications taken orally.
Hawkins said most insurance plans in the state cover no more than 70 percent or 80 percent of the cost, which can be as high as $10,000. His bill would limit that to $200.
“Two hundred or 3,000?” Hawkins said. “It’s a big difference. Twenty-seven states already passed similar legislation.”
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Senate backs watershed bill opposed by environmentalists
The Georgia Senate backed a measure Friday that environmentalists fear would loosen watershed protections statewide.
Senate Bill 299, sponsored by Sen. Frank Gooch, R-Dahlonega, would give local authorities some leeway in adopting watershed protection standards for buffer areas along streams and reservoirs. That includes where land is being developed, disturbed or built upon. Gooch, who called it a "private property rights" issue, said the bill does not change state minimums, including a 50-foot buffer for trout-fishing streams.
Environmental advocates, including the Georgia Water Coalition, warn the bill would weaken state control over the protection of streams and reservoirs that supply the state’s drinking water and recreation areas.
The bill passed on a 46-7 vote. It now goes to the House for consideration.
— Kristina Torres
Raccoons could be used to train dogs under House bill
The Georgia House gave overwhelming support Friday to a bill that would allow live raccoons to be used to train hunting dogs.
House Bill 423, by Rep. Stephen Allison, R-Blairsville, would make it legal to use a captured raccoon in field trials, which are competitions between hunting dogs. It passed 162-1.
Allison’s bill says the captured raccoon would be put in a protective cage and placed somewhere in a field or in a tree. The dogs would then compete to see which can find it quickest.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
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