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HCV DRUG Wars - The Federal & State Medicaid Deceit, Lies & Scandal..... Compare Prices - HCV Drug Pricing vs New Cholesterol Drugs
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Compare Prices - HCV Drug Pricing vs New Cholesterol Drugs......federal govt is holding patients hostage------"each & every year the federal govt spends domestically $21 billion on HIV through medicaid & medicare BUT NOTHING essentially for HEPATITIS C a disease epidemic that can be cured with 12 weeks tolerable therapy - IT'S POLITICS - the federal govt intentionally lies & misleads you when they say as they did last week at the HHS webcast on World hepatitis Day when their HHS spokesperson said its about cost as medicaids are saying - NO - its about the federal govt refusing to live up to their responsibility - a federal law requires that medicaid make available every FDA approved drug - lawyers in Connecticut just convinced state officials to eliminate all restrictions by threatening lawsuit based on this - IT'S ILLEGAL to IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS as Medicaids are doing - the FEDERAL GOVT is breaking the law & condoning these restrictions but then at the HHS webcast they say its about the price NO HCV DRUGS ARE DWARFED by HIV DRUG COSTS & these new cholesterol drugs - HCV is a CURE - A ONE-TIME Therapy.....Friday FDA approved new cholesterol drug - the 1st in a new class of cholesterol drugs with more coming called PCSK9 inhibitors - although they are priced at $14000 a year up to 10 million people will have this option "could cost $50 bill to $200 billion ANNUALLY"........for an HCV CURE, the only viral disease we can cure with 12 weeks therapy no less the price after discount to medicaid & the VA is a one-time $50,000"
Kaiser Healthcare CEO Commentary: "Why Pharma Must Change Its Model"
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2015/07/30/why-pharma-must-change-its-model/
PERHAPS WE need to change the model of insurance companies - get rid of private insurance companies or remove them from stock exchanges so their prime motivation is NOT quarterly profits, make these companies non-profits !
"Without truly innovative treatments emerging from a successful pharmaceutical industry, our hopes for a 21st century healthcare system will be dashed." Kaiser CEO
"Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first in a new class of drugs intended to treat high cholesterol, called PCSK9 inhibitors. Many experts are predicting it will prove to be the most expensive class of drugs ever. The companies developing these new products stand to make billions of dollars.......The potential patient population for these new high cholesterol treatments is huge, and they will require patients to continue taking them on an ongoing basis to retain the health benefits. By one analysis, the launch of this new class of drugs could add anywhere from $50 billion to as much as $200 billion annually to our health care system for the foreseeable future. Even if we use the low end of the estimate it is a staggering figure......Up to 10 million Americans will soon have a new option for lowering their cholesterol - at a price of $14,600 a year."
BY THE WAY READ THE FDA SAFETY REVIEW for new cholesterol drug just approved last friday regarding liver enzymes & potential hepatitis affects, similar to the affects of statins:
FDA Review Safety/Liver - Efficacy - New Cholesterol Drug Alirocumab - (07/29/15)
Lowering LDL Cholesterol Is Good, but How and in Whom? Editorial - (07/29/15)
FDA approves new cholesterol drug - at $14,600 a year - (07/29/15)
Regeneron and Sanofi Announce FDA Approval of Praluent® (alirocumab) Injection, the First PCSK9 Inhibitor in the U.S., for the Treatment of High LDL Cholesterol in Adult Patients - (07/29/15)
FDA Approves First PCSK9 Inhibitor - (07/29/15)
National HIV/AIDS Strategy Updated to 2020 [BUT The White House & Congress have done NOT ONE THING ABOUT HEPATITIS C ! unlike HIV - its about politics !....they are playing politics with patients lives......like Reagan did with HIV & Koch too in NYC refusing to admit there was an AIDS crisis until they were embarrassed by AIDS activists....that is the only thing the feds, congress & the FDA respond to: being embarrassed publicly!.......http://www.natap.org/2015/newsUpdates/073115_01.htm
from Jules: Its great this is happening, I am supposed to say that because the white House & ONAP like to be told 'what a great job they are doing, thanks', I don't see a word about aging, what about HCV & HIV coinfection. Meanwhile the Federal Govt - The White house, Congress, the NIH, CMS - they all condone restrictions to access to HCV treatments - they permit State Medicaid programs to impose the harshest restrictions even though a Federal Law says its illegal, a lawsuit threat in Conneticut based on this Federal Law convinced Conn Stare officials to eliminate ALL restrictions. The head of the Natl Medicaid Association Matt Salo said last year if you sue us we would probably lose. Just last Friday the FDA Approved a brand new injectable cholesterol drug that as shown in studies to reduce LDL quite a lot & in those unresponsive to a statin, the price $13,000 a year - up to 10 million eligible users in the USA & of course this is a lifetime therapy - the costs dwarf HCV drug prices - will there be restrictions? lets see - I doubt it, not like in HIV - where the most highly infected HCV group - IDUs are restricted from access to the new HCV drugs - IN THE US do we tell people with pre-diabetes & or early heart disease they can't get a statin ? NO. It costs in the USA for care & treatment/ART for an HIV+ person over 25 years $500,000; each & every year the federal govt spends domestically $21 billion on HIV through medicaid & medicare; HCV is curable with a 12-week course of treatment & the cost after discounts last year are about $60,000, a one-time cost, & cure rates with the new HCV drugs are up to 100% for many if not most patients. HCV could be eliminated but Federal & State officials are holding patients hostage. Jules Levin, NATAP
NEW PUBLISHED COMMENTARY ON HCV ACCESS & PRICING
Why We Should Be Willing to Pay for Hepatitis C Treatment - [Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology] (07/31/15) ........"The overall budget needed to treat HCV is not huge and is reasonable when comparable to that of HIV....."The total federal budget requested for HIV and AIDS in 2015 is $24.2 billion, of which $17.5 billion is allocated to HIV treatment and care......With recent rebates on drug prices, sofosbuvir-based treatment in 2015 on an average costs 54% of the wholesale acquisition cost......using a simulation model, we predicted that the maximum 5-year budget needed to treat all patients (by private as well as government payers) who are candidates for HCV treatment is $37 billion, ie, $7.4 billion per year
New Millman Report - Aging Will Affect Medicare's Hepatitis C Mortality and Cost - (07/31/15)
AASLD/2014: Projected Health and Economic Impact of Hepatitis C on the United States Medicare System From 2010 to 2024......http://www.natap.org/2014/AASLD/AASLD_60.htm
By one estimate, specialty drug spending in the United States is expected to reach more than $400 billion by 2020, a number that stood at $87 billion in 2012.
HCV DRUG PRICES:
Pricing of Drugs and Formulary Placement: Making Sense of Hepatitis C Treatment Camilla S. Graham, MD, MPH
http://www.natap.org/2015/HCV/040815_04.htm
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