Death By Government: Medicaid patients denied new hepatitis C cures

The Chicago Tribune reports on page 1 today :

Revolutionary new drugs are curing hepatitis C, halting a disease that can corrode the liver to the point of cirrhosis, cancer and death. But state restrictions on who can get the costly drugs are keeping them out of reach for some of the poorest patients.

Treatment with new drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni, the first reliable cures for hepatitis C, costs more than $94,000 per patient. The high price of Sovaldi drove Illinois Medicaid's hepatitis C spending to $22 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, up from $6.7 million the previous year, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Facing higher costs, Medicaid officials stopped paying for any but the sickest patients to get the new drugs, drawing criticism from some liver doctors who have said the state is preventing them from properly treating their patients.

The great moments of Medicaid. Just think, there's still "progressives" making fun of Sarah Palin's death panels comment.