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Missouri Healthnet extends contract with hepatitis C drugmaker
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Published: Apr. 30, 2024
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - MO Healthnet is progressing toward combating hepatitis C in Missouri.
The virus affects the liver. It spreads through contact with the blood of someone with the virus. Over half the patients contracting the virus suffer long-term and life-threatening health problems.
MO Healthnet has extended a contract with Abbvie for another three years to make its prescription drug with a 98-percent cure rate available at no cost to Medicaid recipients. Project Hep-Cure will begin in July and last through June of 2027.
More than 27,000 Medicaid members have hepatitis C, but less than a quarter of them receive treatment. According to the nonprofit HepVu, Greene County has the highest mortality rate of any county in the state.
"In our area of the state many people are in rural areas," said David Darbe of Mercy. "They may not have had direct access, in the past, to specialists because, in the past, only the specialists were really the ones that made decisions and administered these types of medications. But now that the treatment regimen is relatively straightforward and accepted, even primary care physicians in rural areas such as mine can administer these therapies. So, I am hopeful that we will see more people getting treatment."
Dawn Vader, Administrator for the Hickory County, Missouri Health Department explains that since late 2017, MoHealthNet has covered Hepatitis C medication. The change came after a lawsuit claimed new medications were being covered for the extremely sick, but not for people at earlier stages of the disease.
In 2021, Missouri contracted with AbbVie to offer MAVYRET. That contract also offered the treatment to Medicaid patients for free.
"There still is not 100 percent electing to be treated," says Vader. "They might be hesitant about side effects... but the new medicines do not have as many side effects. I think there's some hesitancy just because of how it's been done in the past."
Vader says that's why more awareness needs spread about the virus, risk factors, and treatments.
The director of Missouri's Health and Human Services says all adults 18 years and older should be tested for hepatitis C at least once in their lifetime. You should also get tested any time you get pregnant. You should especially consider testing if you have an increased risk of getting hepatitis C due to any of the following:
• Born between 1945-1965 ("Baby Boomer")
• Received a blood infusion before 1992
• Lived or had sexual contact with someone with hepatitis c
• Have sexually transmitted infections or multiple sexual contacts
• History of IV drug use or sharing drug equipment
• History of incarceration
• Have a "home" tattoo or piercing
"If they will choose to go and be tested and choose to use the treatment, then it'll be great for our state, "explains Vader.
https://www.ky3.com/2024/04/30/missouri-healthnet-extends-contract-with-hepatitis-c-drugmaker/
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