AUGUST 2, 2016

Antivirals Among Medicaid’s Most Costly Drugs

By Gina Shaw

The top five most costly drugs to Medicaid currently include three specialty medications, all antivirals and all manufactured by Gilead: the hepatitis C drugs sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) and ledipasvir-sofosbuvir (Harvoni), and the HIV combination therapy tenofovir disoproxil-emtricitabine (Truvada), according to a new issue brief released by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Specialty drugs represent 34% of the 50 most costly drugs to Medicaid, but only 6% of Medicaid outpatient drugs