“State Medicaid Restrictions for Hepatitis C Cures Are Creating One of America’s Worst Health Disparities,” published on December 11, 2015 in HuffPost Health Living looks at health insurance providers. The blog post, written by Ryan Clary, Executive Director of the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, cites research from multiple sources to reach the conclusion that Hepatitis C is “one of the nation’s most grievous and intensifying health disparities.”
Excerpt from the story:
“Until recently, hepatitis C treatments were largely ineffective at managing the disease, and caused debilitating – and sometimes even fatal – side effects that left many patients hopeless in the fight against this silent killer. Thanks to innovative treatments that offer cure rates of near 100 percent with minimal side effects, hepatitis C patients now have an unprecedented chance to live virus-free, and avoid liver failure, cancer-causing cirrhosis, liver transplants and other health impacts.
But rather than embrace groundbreaking treatments for the nation’s deadliest blood-borne virus, most state Medicaid programs are turning their backs on patients by enacting discriminatory restrictions for patients seeking to be cured. In fact, research led by the Center for Health Law and Policy at Harvard Law School found that 42 state Medicaid programs with stringent limitations on who can access a cure could be violating federal Medicaid law, which requires states to cover drugs consistent with their FDA labels.”
Read the full blog post about Hepatitis C and health disparities here.
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