In the USA will experience a new payment model for the treatment of hepatitis C

According to the Washington Post, the authorities in Louisiana (USA) intend to use the new payment format for treating patients with hepatitis C, which the American Medical Association (JAMA) magazine previously called the Netflix model. The method of payment for treatment by subscription got its name by analogy with the world-famous gaming service, which provides free access to the content, subject to annual payments.

As specified in the administration of the governor, the state authorities instead of paying for each individual prescription will contribute to the fund a kind of "subscription" to the manufacturer of the drug.

“If successful, this experience will be able to be replicated throughout the country,” says Louis Bel Governor John Bel Edwards.

A similar approach was chosen by the state authorities in response to the extremely expensive treatment of patients with hepatitis C. The course of twelve-week therapy with the most well-known and common direct antiviral drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) costs the average American $ 84 thousand.

Back in the late fall of last year, an article was published in JAMA, where the authors suggested using the Netflix model with the condition of fixing the amount of the annual subscription based on the amount of the state budget for therapy in the current year. The “plus” subscriptions for the pharmaceutical company are to minimize the risks of losing revenue from the sale of expensive medicines.

The company Gilead said that they are familiar with the terms of alternative agreements and are ready to discuss cooperation with state authorities.

As expected, the first agreement on the model Netflix will be concluded before the end of the first half of 2019.

We add that the Louisiana Ministry of Health earlier stated that to meet the targets by 2020, 10,000 people with hepatitis C should receive drugs on the staff. Only 25% of them are currently provided for under the state Medicaid program. However, experts say that treatment under this initiative of the US government is extremely ineffective and the actual number of coverage is about four times lower (1,000).