Most Americans with hepatitis C don’t get cured, according to a study that highlights the need to improve access to effective — yet expensive — treatments for a virus that killed more than 14,800 Americans in 2020.
(Bloomberg) — Most Americans with hepatitis C don’t get cured, according to a study that highlights the need to improve access to effective — yet expensive — treatments for a virus that killed more than 14,800 Americans in 2020.
More than 2 million people have hepatitis C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and while current treatments from companies like Gilead Sciences Inc. are almost always effective, they cost tens of thousands of dollars, and some insurance plans limit when they can be prescribed. Infected people often aren’t tested for the disease until after it has already caused significant liver damage.
“A safe and highly effective cure for hepatitis C is one of the most stunning medical achievements of the past 20 years,” Francis Collins, the former National Institutes of Health director who now leads the White House National Hepatitis C Elimination Program, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, too many people in our country still face insurmountable barriers to accessing this treatment.”
Among roughly 1 million people diagnosed with hepatitis C between 2013 and 2022, only around a third cleared the virus from their system, according to the report Thursday from the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and TB Prevention that studied people tested by Quest Diagnostics Inc. Recovery rates were lowest among people with no health insurance. People who get their coverage through Medicaid, the government health program for the poor, also were less likely to be cured of hepatitis C than those with private insurance, according to the study.
The White House’s 2024 budget proposal requests funding to expand access to testing and treatment. That includes a “subscription model” where the government would pay a lump sum to manufacturers for needed treatments. The administration also wants to make rapid testing widely available.
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