New analysis looks at costly impact of new Hepatitis C treatments in California

A new analysis and infographic released today estimate California's exposure to high-priced Hepatitis C medications could range from hundreds of millions of dollars, even if only 5 percent of Californians infected with Hepatitis C receive treatment through state programs. The analysis, which looks at the costly impact of new Hepatitis C treatments on public programs, comes at a time when state and federal agencies grapple with hefty price tags for drugs like Gilead Sciences' Harvoni and Sovaldi.

California's state agencies have already acknowledged the impact of high-priced Hepatitis C drugs by setting aside hundreds of millions in the state budget and establishing workgroups to address the high-cost drug trend. The analysis released today supports the need for these proactive actions as these highly-effective, but costly, treatments pose a significant threat to the stability of our health care system at a time when health care reform has expanded coverage to millions of Americans.

"With a host of potentially six-figure priced drugs due to hit the market this year, this report shows how just one new treatment can blow a hole in state and federal budgets," said Charles Bacchi, President and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans. "These findings illustrate that this pricing trend is not sustainable for our state, its taxpayers and our public programs."

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