Exclusive: Costs to public of $84,000 hep C drug ‘outrageous' - Kaiser

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Exclusive: Costs to public of $84,000 hep C drug ‘outrageous' - Kaiser

By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kaiser Permanente, the biggest U.S. health maintenance organization, said it is using Gilead Sciences' new hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi, even though its $84,000 treatment price is "outrageous." The medication is widely viewed as a breakthrough that can cure a majority of hepatitis C patients, often within 12 weeks. Analysts project 2017 sales of $9.1 billion, according to Thomson Reuters Pharma. But Gilead has come under fire, from insurers and Congress, for Sovaldi's $1,000-a-pill price at a time when U.S. healthcare spending is under scrutiny and President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act aims to make health coverage accessible to everyone. A Gilead executive told Reuters last week that it had an agreement to discount the drug for the Kaiser network, based on their recognition of the long-term benefits.

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