"If Illinois expands access to new hepatitis C medicines, it not only will save lives and relieve untold patient suffering, it dramatically will reduce long-term health care costs resulting from this awful disease."
After
decades of research and clinical trials, we have new cures for
hepatitis C, the most prevalent and deadliest blood-borne viral disease
in the United States.
Until now, hepatitis C
treatments have been long, painful and even life-threatening, with low
cure rates of 40 to 65 percent. Consequently, up to 85 percent of
patients discontinue treatment before they finish.
Still,
the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services set tight
restrictions on innovative hepatitis C treatments. Only patients with
the highest degree of liver damage who meet a set of 25 criteria can
have access.
- See more at: http://www.sj-r.com/article/20150305/OPINION/150309693/2011/OPINION#sthash.e3ELmAZa.dpufLabels: access to treatment, Illinois, medicaid