State Imposes New Rules For Hepatitis C Meds

(Chicago, IL) -- The state has spent 16-million dollars this year on a drug to treat Medicaid patients that have hepatitis-C, but now they're cutting back. Officials are putting tight restrictions in place that'll require patients to meet 25 criteria and get prior approval before getting access to Sovaldi, the pill that costs one-thousand-dollars a pop. The disease is most typically spread among drug users who share needles. According to the new state rules, anyone with a history of using drugs or alcohol in the past year will be out of luck if they're hoping the state will pick up the tab for their meds.