Rowland Signs Bill

Mandating Wig Coverage

MERIDEN (AP) — Surrounded by cancer survivors and their advocates, Gov John G. Rowland signed legislation last week that requires insurance companies to cover the cost of wigs for cancer patients who suffer hair loss from treatment.

Although the governor signed the legislation into law last month, he said he hoped the ceremonial signing would draw attention to the need for more education and awareness about cancer.

Connecticut has become the sixth state to pass such legislation. Laws on the books in Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma also cover wigs for cancer patients to some degree, according to a report from Connecticut’s Office of Legislative Research.

“I tell people, the law is not about hair,” said Ruth Pulda of West Hartford, who was diagnosed with lung cancer and fought for the legislation. “It is about providing cancer patients with a modicum of dignity.”

Under the new law, insurers are required to cover up to $350 toward a wig prescribed by an oncologist. If a patient chooses a more expensive wig, he or she must pay the difference.

“These wigs help patients keep an element of normality in their lives and help mitigate the trauma one goes through after losing their hair to this treatment,” said state Rep Themis Klarides, R-Derby, a proponent of the legislation whose mother is a cancer survivor.