Today, July 28th, is World Hepatitis Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about one of our most deadly and neglected health crises.

Around the world, 354 million people are living with hepatitis, and more than 1.1 million lives are lost each year to hepatitis B and hepatitis C, despite the fact that we have the tools to prevent, treat, and eliminate these viruses.

We’re done waiting. It’s 2023 and we are demanding that decision makers act now to make hepatitis elimination a reality through political will and funding.

WHA_Hep-Cant-Wait_WHD-Campaign_ANIMATION_2022_1.0 from NVHR on Vimeo.

With our partners from the Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School, NVHR sent letters to more than 20 State Medicaid Directors in states where prior authorization barriers persist seeking their commitment to ensuring timely and equitable access to hepatitis C treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries. We urged them to review their state’s Hepatitis C State of Medicaid Access grade and act now by (1) removing all prior authorization requirements for direct acting antivirals and (2) ensuring alignment of FFS and MCO policies to comply with federal law.

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