The Health Care Authority on Monday reached a settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit that sought broader coverage of costly hepatitis C drugs for Medicaid patients in Washington state.
The settlement has yet to be approved by a judge but lawyers are hopeful it will be soon.
In the past several years, multiple pharmaceutical companies nationwide have developed direct-acting antiviral drugs that cure hepatitis C in more than 90 percent of patients. But the drugs are extremely expensive - for example, Harvoni, introduced in 2014, has a list price of $1,100 a day, or $94,500 for a 12-week course. (After automatic drug rebates and other discounts, Medicaid pays about half that price for each patient.)
The settlement has yet to be approved by a judge but lawyers are hopeful it will be soon.
In the past several years, multiple pharmaceutical companies nationwide have developed direct-acting antiviral drugs that cure hepatitis C in more than 90 percent of patients. But the drugs are extremely expensive - for example, Harvoni, introduced in 2014, has a list price of $1,100 a day, or $94,500 for a 12-week course. (After automatic drug rebates and other discounts, Medicaid pays about half that price for each patient.)
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