Advisory board; composition; recommendations for treatment of rare cancers; meetings; rulemaking

A. There is hereby created within the department an advisory board that shall review and provide medical recommendations to approve new treatments for rare cancers. The advisory board shall be composed of the following members: (1) The commissioner or his designee. (2) The secretary or designee of the Louisiana Department of Health. (3) The Medicaid Director or designee of the Louisiana Department of Health. (4) The surgeon general or his designee. (5) The executive director or designee of Taking Aim at Cancer in Louisiana. (6) The chief executive officer of the Louisiana Association of Health Plans. (7) The chief medical officer or designee of a managed care organization. (8) The director or designee of the Louisiana Tumor Registry. (9) The director or designee of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. (10) A designee of the Louisiana Cancer Research Center. (11) A designee of the LSU Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, specializing in oncology. (12) A designee of the Tulane Medical School, specializing in oncology. (13) A designee of the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine. (14) Two oncologists specializing in the treatments of rare cancers. B. (1) The chairperson of the advisory board shall be the executive director or designee of the Louisiana Cancer Research Center. (2) The advisory board shall hold quarterly public meetings unless otherwise provided by vote of the advisory board or by order of the chairperson. Within thirty days of each meeting, the advisory board shall compile a report of its findings and submit a formal written report to the legislature. C. The commissioner may promulgate and adopt administrative rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act as are necessary to implement the provisions of this Section.