While COVID-19 has garnered much of the attention of the healthcare field in the past 18-months, a new state-run program in Missouri will work to help slow Hepatitis C. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services as many as 4.7 million people in the US are infected with Hepatitis C, and more than half of those people don’t know they’re infected with the virus, which causes damage to the liver that could lead to death. MO HealthNet, is Missouri’s Medicaid program, and pharmaceutical manufacturer AbbVie announced a new initiative Monday, called Project Hep Cure.

The agreement provides the prescription AbbVie’s MAVYRET available to anyone with healthcare coverage through MO HealthNet at no cost. This is significant due to the high cost of MAVYRET. A search on the website, WebMDRX shows the non-insurance price of the drug is nearly $16,000 for 84 pills. While the price drops to just over $13,100 with a coupon. According to 2018 data, Millennials, or adults in their 20’s and 30’s makeup over ⅓ of new Hepatitis C cases. For more information, or to enroll in Mo HealthNet visit the Missouri Department of Social Services website at dss.mo.gov. For 89 KRPS, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro