STAT Plus: Medicaid beneficiaries sue Texas health agency for restricting access to hepatitis C medicines
A group of Medicaid enrollees is accusing a Texas agency of rationing hepatitis C medicines due to cost, the latest such allegation in an ongoing battle between state officials and patients over access to the life-saving treatments.
In a lawsuit, the Medicaid beneficiaries allege the Texas Health & Human Services Commission restricts coverage of hepatitis C medicines to only those enrollees with severe liver damage, even though the drugs have cure rates approaching 100% for all infected people. As a result, they must wait until they have advanced liver disease or cirrhosis of the liver before being eligible for coverage.
