26 August 2015 - Federal and state Medicaid officials should widen access to prescription drugs that could cure tens of thousands of people with hepatitis C, including medications that can cost up to $1,000 a pill, health care experts have told the White House.

The experts, from the Public Health Service and President Obama’s Advisory Council on H.I.V./AIDS, said restrictions on the drugs imposed by many states were inconsistent with sound medical practice, as reflected in treatment guidelines issued by health care professionals and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The drugs, including Sovaldi and Harvoni, cost $84,000 for the recommended treatment lasting 12 weeks, or 84 days. States can obtain discounts, but prices still generally exceed $600 a pill.

The advisory council did not say how to pay for increased use of the new hepatitis drugs, but it did say Medicaid and other public programs should disclose the prices they paid. And, it said, manufacturers should be required to disclose the costs of developing and producing such drugs.

For more details, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/us/wider-reach-is-sought-for-new-hepatitis-c-treatments.html?emc=edit_th_20150826&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=20088616&_r=0