Should The U.S. Government Buy A Drug Company To Save Money?
Most of the millions in the U.S. who are infected with hepatitis C can't afford the cure. Some say the U.S. could save money and cure more people if it bought the drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc.
David Higginbotham contracted hepatitis C more than 35 years ago. He'd like to rid his body of the virus, but Colorado's Medicaid program says he's not sick enough to justify the cost.
And he's not alone.
Since 2013, when Gilead Sciences Inc. released Sovaldi, the first medication that can reliably cure hepatitis C, health insurers and state Medicaid programs have been coming up with ways to limit access to it and a sister drug, , because they're priced so high — more than $80,000 for a 12-week course of Sovaldi at the outset.
