Author information
1
Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road Room 3033, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA. Electronic address: aspauld@emory.edu.
2
Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road Room 3033, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
3
Alaska Department of Corrections, 550 West 7th Avenue, Suite 1860, Anchorage, AK 99501, USA.
4
Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, 101 Merrimac Street, Floor 10, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
5
Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC, 1501 M Street Northwest, Seventh Floor, Washington, DC 20005-1700, USA.
Abstract
An estimated 30% of Americans with hepatitis C virus (HCV) pass through a jail or prison annually. One in 7 incarcerated persons is viremic. Screening and treatment is cost-effective and beneficial to society as a whole. Yet at current (2018) levels of funding for HCV management, prisons are not aggressively seeking cases; few incarcerated persons with HCV actually receive treatment. This article explores barriers to screening for and treating hepatitis C in state prisons, and ways that states may overcome these barriers, such as nominal pricing. While high prices for direct-acting antivirals discourage treatment, potential strategies exist to lower prices.