Hepatitis C Support Group
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide.
AHF to Ask States to Block Gileads $1,000 per Pill Hepatitis Drug From Medicaid Formularies
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a series of letters to be sent to state Medicaid directors starting today, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) President Michael Weinstein will ask the state directors to block Gilead Sciences new $1,000-per-pill Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) from inclusion on their respective state Medicaid and other drug formularies. The drug was approved by the F.D.A. on December 6, 2013 and Gilead immediately announced that it would price the drug at $84,000 for a twelve-week course of treatmentor $1,000 per tabletmaking it one of the most expensive drugs ever marketed. Suggested treatment guidelines also require that Sovaldi be used with another drug, ribavirin (a nucleoside inhibitor), further adding to the cost of the prohibitively expensive course of treatment.
read more at:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140129006567/en/AHF-States-Block-Gilead%E2%80%99s-1000-Pill-Hepatitis#.UwYm730o5Ds
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a series of letters to be sent to state Medicaid directors starting today, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) President Michael Weinstein will ask the state directors to block Gilead Sciences new $1,000-per-pill Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) from inclusion on their respective state Medicaid and other drug formularies. The drug was approved by the F.D.A. on December 6, 2013 and Gilead immediately announced that it would price the drug at $84,000 for a twelve-week course of treatmentor $1,000 per tabletmaking it one of the most expensive drugs ever marketed. Suggested treatment guidelines also require that Sovaldi be used with another drug, ribavirin (a nucleoside inhibitor), further adding to the cost of the prohibitively expensive course of treatment.
read more at:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140129006567/en/AHF-States-Block-Gilead%E2%80%99s-1000-Pill-Hepatitis#.UwYm730o5Ds
Makes sense to me.
It's damn SAD to say the least.
One thing is sure , anyone who uses this drug will have their insurance premium go up, as now the insurance companies will try to recoup their investment might as well. My friend rate tripled in two years from $800 when she started to $2400 a months after she finished the Triple treatment. And anyone who hates Obamacare think twice. In the old system, still on the books today, you are considered to be uninsurable even after you complete the treatment successfully. The reason is simple as the new drugs are triggering many unwanted side effects, plus old side effects what will never go away if the damage have been done internally and the body can not repair itself. It will be an ongoing expense so yes with much of my surprise i would have to pay $900 to any insurance company if they take you, twice as much what OC offered to me , to be exact i got the Gold Plan for $349 a month far less from the $900 guaranteed otherwise , plus you cant use it for the first year beside emergency care.....Now..Beat Obamacare...will be tough folks.