| |
CBO Issues Paper: "A Call for New Research in the Area of Hepatitis C" creates inordinate barrier to HCV elimination
|
| |
| |
Download the PDF here
From Jules Levin: This CBO letter sets an inordinately extraordinarily high burden on supporting an HCV elimination program, one they would not subject to HIV or I do not think for cancer or heart disease if there were a cure for either. This letter sets up a very difficult or impossible threshold to meet.
CBO calls for "New Research"........Instead of Supporting the White House HCV Elimination Plan, this CBO Notice is Asking for "MORE Analysis", CBO Reports Questions: "whether the program would result in net savings to the federal government"....including the effectiveness of adherence for IDUs: "effectiveness of outreach and other efforts in increasing testing, treatment initiation, and adherence among targeted populations (which would also depend on the specific populations included in the program)".....CBO Report also questions "likelihood that drug manufacturers would participate in a process that allowed governments to procure unlimited hepatitis C medications at a fixed price", and asks for "research on the longer-term effects of expanded treatment of hepatitis C would be of interest, including effects on the incidence of the disease, on mortality related to hepatitis C, and on outcomes such as disability, labor force participation, and wages". I think we know the answers adequately to these questions. This CBO letter sets an inordinately high burden on supporting an HCV elimination program, one they would not subject to HIV or I do not think for cancer or heart disease if there were a cure for either. I do not recall Congress asking for this the of data before funding HIV drug medications & billions for HIV care & treatment & HV cure research in the USA & globally.
--------------------------
A Call for New Research in the Area of Hepatitis C
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60238
Posted by
Phill Swagel
on
June 14, 2024
The Congressional Budget Office regularly provides information to the Congress about the effects on the federal budget of policies related to preventive medical care. Today the agency released a report providing background about hepatitis C treatment and the budgetary effects of illustrative increases in such treatment among Medicaid beneficiaries.
In addition to the report published today, further analysis is needed to determine the effects of proposed federal policies, such as a national treatment program, on both the extent of hepatitis C treatment and the federal budget. Policies could include efforts to expand outreach to identify people who have hepatitis C, such as improving the technology and scale of screening. Those policies could also improve access to care for newly diagnosed people, reduce the cost of the highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medications now used to treat hepatitis C, and support programs to make sure that people complete their treatment. As CBO builds its expertise about policies aimed at increasing hepatitis C treatment, it is finding significant gaps in the relevant research literature.
CBO's estimation of the potential costs and savings associated with a national program to treat hepatitis C, including whether the program would result in net savings to the federal government, relies on three primary factors:
• The effectiveness of outreach and other efforts in increasing testing, treatment initiation, and adherence among targeted populations (which would also depend on the specific populations included in the program);
• The costs of treating hepatitis C with DAAs; and
• The costs of treating complications from hepatitis C if the disease is untreated.
Reliable research in those areas would provide CBO with the information it needs for its analysis.
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
