Clinton issued an executive memorandum ordering the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to adjust Medicare guidelines to allow for the payments. His order comes in the wake of debate in Congress about the bipartisan Medicare Cancer Clinical Trials Coverage Act. Six years after its introduction, this act has been receiving more support than ever in both the House and Senate.

Many senior citizens are hesitant to take part in cancer clinical trials because they don't know if Medicare will cover expenses, says Roger Salazar, director of government affairs media relations for the American Cancer Society (ACS). Coupled with rising medical costs and fixed incomes, participation in clinical trials could be a significant financial burden for most seniors, he says.

However, the high level of participation by children in clinical trials over the past few decades illustrates the advantages of clinical trial participation, according to Salazar. Some 90 percent of children with cancer are participating in pediatric oncology clinical trials, compared to about 3 percent of adult patients. Physicians and researchers believe this high participation rate has helped contribute to the enormous strides made in pediatric oncology that make it possible for doctors to cure nearly three-quarters of childhood cancer.

Clinton's memorandum extends to all types of clinical trials and also calls for outreach programs, which would publicize trials to seniors. One possibility the Department of Health and Human Services will explore is the establishment of a national registry of Medicare-covered trials. The registry would describe types of trials in progress, participation rates and how patients can access the trials.

"We are pleased to see Medicare will cover clinical trial participation, and hope that private health plans will follow suit soon," says LaMar McGinnis, M.D., a surgical oncologist and a past president of the ACS. "Increasing adult cancer patient participation in clinical trials is essential to increase the delivery of research advances into clinical practice."

"Exciting new potential therapies are in the research pipelines but slow in reaching cancer patients because of limited participation in clinical trials," Dr. McGinnis adds. "Clearing up payment issues will assist patients in their consideration of taking part in clinical trials."