New hepatitis C treatments cost Medicaid $4.5 billion last year

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Ashli Blow

Ashli Blow Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>New hepatitis C treatments cost Medicaid $4.5 billion last year</h1>
                <h2><p>Groundbreaking new treatments for hepatitis C can cure the disease but come with a steep price tag, costing users up to $1,000 a day. That translates to a $4.5 billion strain on the Medicaid system, according to an analysis from ProPublica. Proponents argue the value outweighs cost.

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               <p>By <a href="/author/ashli-blow/">Ashli Blow</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Groundbreaking new treatments for hepatitis C can cure the disease but come with a steep price tag, costing users up to $1,000 a day. That translates to a $4.5 billion strain on the Medicaid system, according to an <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/cost-of-a-cure-medicare-spent-4.5-billion-on-hepatitis-c-drugs-last-year?utm_campaign=sprout&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1428067174">analysis</a> from ProPublica. Proponents argue the value outweighs cost.</p><p>"Curing hepatitis C will likely go on to prevent liver cancer, go on to prevent patients needing liver transplantation, go on to save health care dollars down the road," said Dr. Adam Peyton, a liver specialist at the University of Miami Health System in Florida, who prescribed $13.5 million worth of hepatitis C drugs in Part D last year. "It's upsetting that there's been so much negative publicity for such a positive breakthrough in medicine."</p>
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Groundbreaking new treatments for hepatitis C can cure the disease but come with a steep price tag, costing users up to $1,000 a day. That translates to a $4.5 billion strain on the Medicaid system, according to an analysis from ProPublica. Proponents argue the value outweighs cost.

"Curing hepatitis C will likely go on to prevent liver cancer, go on to prevent patients needing liver transplantation, go on to save health care dollars down the road," said Dr. Adam Peyton, a liver specialist at the University of Miami Health System in Florida, who prescribed $13.5 million worth of hepatitis C drugs in Part D last year. "It's upsetting that there's been so much negative publicity for such a positive breakthrough in medicine."

By Ashli Blow

Ashli Blow is a Seattle-based freelance writer who talks with people — in places from urban watersheds to remote wildernesses — about the environment around them. She’s been working in journal