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There's a Life-Saving Hepatitis C Drug. But You May Not Be Able To Afford It.
There's a new drug regimen being touted as a potential cure for a dangerous liver virus that causes hepatitis C. But it costs $84,000 -- or $1,000 a pill. And that price tag is prompting outrage from some consumers and a scramble by insurers to figure out which patients should get the drug -and who pays for it.
There's a new drug regimen being touted as a potential cure for a dangerous liver virus that causes hepatitis C. But it costs $84,000 -- or $1,000 a pill. And that price tag is prompting outrage from some consumers and a scramble by insurers to figure out which patients should get the drug —and who pays for it.
Called Sovaldi, the drug is made by California-based Gilead Sciences Inc. and is the latest in handful of new treatments for hepatitis C, a chronic infection that afflicts at least 3 million Americans and is a leading cause of liver failure. It was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in December.
"Everyone is still scrambling to figure out how to handle this," said J. Mario Molina, president and CEO of Molina Healthcare, one of the nation's largest Medicaid managed care companies, which is seeking emergency guidelines from the 11 states in which it operates. "It's far superior to anything we've had to treat hepatitis C. The problem is it's extraordinarily expensive."
Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/1kNLtAz
Source: Kaiser Health News
Blister Packs May Help Solve Medication Adherence Challenges and Lower Health Care Costs
June 10th 2025Julia Lucaci, PharmD, MS, of Becton, Dickinson and Company, discusses the benefits of blister packaging for chronic medications, advocating for payer incentives to boost medication adherence and improve health outcomes.
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