Arizona Blue Plan to Cover Gardasil

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona said Tuesday it would cover Merck’s recently approved cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil.

The health insurer said coverage would be available immediately to its group and individual plan members with standard benefit plans.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine June 8 for preventing infection with the human papillomavirus — the leading cause of cervical cancer — in females ages nine to 26.

The FDA has stated that Gardasil is a significant advance in the protection of women’s health because it strikes at the infections that are the root cause of many cervical cancers, said Gary Smethers, BCBSAZ’s chief medical officer. Providing coverage for this new vaccine is a reflection of our commitment to the health of our members and is the right thing to do.

Gardasil’s preventive cost is a small fraction of the total cost to treat cervical cancer, the health insurer said, with the annual cost of treating the deadly disease totaling approximately $1.7 billion annually, based on statistics from the National Cancer Institute.