DENVER –The ACLU of Colorado is filing a federal class action lawsuit against Colorado’s Medicaid program in an effort to increase access to a live-saving drug to treat hepatitis C.
The American Civil Liberties Union suit filed Monday states that thousands of low-income Coloradans suffering from hepatitis C are being denied treatments that have more than a 90 percent cure rate, but cost about $40,000 per person.
“We’re sitting on it because of money,” said David Higginbothum, a Canon City plumber who believes he contracted hepatitis C while working in a hospital in college. “My doctor just flat out told me they’re not going to treat me.”
Hepatitis C is a life-threatening, infectious disease that attacks the liver, but Medicare will only cover patients in more advanced stages of the disease.
The ACLU says the treatments are available without restrictions for patients covered by Medicare, the Veterans Administration, and the overwhelming majority …
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