N.Y. grapples with cost of life-saving Hepatitis C drug

Laura Nahmias

ALBANY—A new drug with a greater than 90-percent success rate for curing Hepatitis C is on the market, but the state may not be able to cover its cost for tens of thousands of people who don't have private insurance.

Sovaldi, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in December 2013. It costs $1,000 per pill, and a 12-week standard course of treatment—one pill a day—costs $84,000.

Many of those who would be treated with the drug won’t be covered by private insurance. More than half the estimated 3.2 million people infected with Hepatitis C nationwide—including prisoners, veterans, the uninsured or Medicaid recipients—have their health coverage at least partially subsidized by taxpayers.

The potential expense is threatening to blow a hole in states' Medicaid budgets.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/06/8547135/ny-grapples-cost-life-saving-hepatitis-c-drug