Pa. considering moving away from costly Hepatitis C treatment
Photo by AP Photo/Courtesy of Gilead Sciences, File
(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania might move away from a stunningly expensive prescription drug treatment for Medicaid patients with Hepatitis C, but the Commonwealth won’t save as much as other states.
Missouri is one of the first states to move away from Sovaldi, which costs $1,000 a pill.
Pennsylvania might do the same, but the state’s Medicaid program is waiting on final offers from two competitors that provide other drugs recently approved by the FDA for Hepatitis C treatment.
Missouri expects to save more than $4 million from the change to Viekira.
The commonwealth won’t save as much because the care for most Medicaid patients is paid for with a lump sum, rather than the traditional fee for service.
Terri Cathers, Pharmacy Director for Medicaid in Pennsylvania, says she can’t reveal what the new cost might be.
“The net pricing negotiated with the manufacturers is confidential and proprietary. The federal rebate is confidential and the manufacturers bid their supplemental rebates with the understanding that they will be held confidential,” says Cathers.
“We are still waiting final offers from both manufacturers and we’re still evaluating the clinical merits of both regimens before we make our determination in Pennsylvania,” adds Cathers.
But Cathers says an estimated 46,000 people in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid system have hepatitis C.
Before receiving approval for hepatitis C treatment through Medicaid, patients must meet requirements that Pennsylvania may also re-evaluate at its next meeting in March.
This aritcle appeared originally on witf.org.
