Judge Orders Washington Medicaid to Provide Hepatitis C Drug

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Washington Medicaid to provide an expensive drug to all hepatitis C patients, not just the sickest ones.

The Seattle Times reports U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour granted a preliminary injunction Friday that forces the state Health Care Authority to stop a 2015 policy that restricted access to the drugs based on a measure of liver scarring.

The injunction was a response to a class-action lawsuit filed in February on behalf of two clients of Apple Health, which is Washington's version of Medicaid. The two who represent nearly 28,000 Medicaid enrollees with hepatitis C were denied the drug Harvoni to treat their hepatitis C infections. It costs about $95,000 for a 12-week treatment.

Harvoni is among the newest drugs that can halt the hepatitis C virus, posting a cure rate of at least 90 percent.