Boston Globe Editorial Board Calls for Wider Access to Hepatitis C Drugs

A July 29, 2016 piece from the Boston Globe’s editorial board calls for wider access to Hepatitis C (HCV) curative drugs. “Wider access to hepatitis C drugs is humane and pragmatic” highlights recent changes in Massachusetts and the MassHealth Medicaid program as the first step in eradicating HCV, and goes on to call for public education and increased screenings of high-risk populations.

CHLPI’s Faculty Director Robert Greenwald is quoted in the piece:

Massachusetts’ limits on hepatitis C medicines have been at odds with US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ policy, which mandates that Medicaid insurance plans cover the new drugs. MassHealth also has faced scrutiny from health care advocates, who note that the disease is especially prevalent among lower-income residents who don’t have other treatment options, or who are reluctant to seek preventive medical care. “We’re dealing with a population that has a history of exclusion and distrust of the health care system,” says Robert Greenwald, director of Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, and a prominent critic of limits on hepatitis C coverage.

Read “Wider access to hepatitis C drugs is humane and pragmatic” in full.

Read more news coverage of CHLPI’s advocacy efforts for to increase access to HCV medications.