Sponsors (2)
The bill mobilizes substantial federal funding and a coordinated national program to aggressively expand free screening and curative hepatitis C treatment for priority and underserved populations, but it raises significant fiscal costs and creates administrative, eligibility, and implementation challenges that may strain providers, exclude some immigrants, and limit certain harm‑reduction options.
People diagnosed with hepatitis C — including Medicaid enrollees, Medicare beneficiaries (once the Part D waiver is in effect), uninsured people, incarcerated individuals, and Indian Health Service patients — will face little or no out‑of‑pocket costs for curative hepatitis C direct‑acting antivirals, removing a major financial barrier to treatment.
The bill provides multi‑billion dollar federal funding and purchasing authority (including subscription/multi‑year contracts) to procure treatments and sustain a national hepatitis C program, enabling large‑scale negotiating power to lower per‑patient drug costs and stabilize supply.
Federal grants, training, and technical assistance will expand screening, diagnosis, prevention, and local treatment capacity — with targeted outreach to priority populations (tribal, correctional, rural, substance‑use settings) — improving detection and downstream curative care.
The Act increases federal outlays by several billion dollars (multiple appropriations and funded programs), which could add to deficit pressure or require offsets, exposing taxpayers to substantial fiscal cost.
Complex eligibility categories, immigration‑status verification rules, audits, reporting, and state opt‑in conditions will create administrative burdens and verification costs for providers, pharmacies, states, and local programs and may slow access to services.
Some noncitizens are excluded — people who are not U.S. citizens or who do not fall into the specifically enumerated noncitizen classes (including certain recently paroled individuals) will be ineligible for services funded by the Act.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal Hepatitis C Elimination Program that buys DAAs via subscription contracts, funds state/local screening and treatment, ends Part D DAA cost‑sharing 2027–2031, and limits beneficiaries to specified citizens and lawful noncitizens.
Introduced June 4, 2025 by Bill Cassidy · Last progress June 4, 2025
Creates a federal Hepatitis C elimination effort that buys direct‑acting antiviral (DAA) drugs through negotiated "subscription" agreements, distributes those drugs at no cost‑sharing to covered populations (including participating correctional systems, the Bureau of Prisons, Indian Health Service sites, and registered pharmacies), and funds state and local programs to expand screening, diagnosis, treatment, and related services. The measure also eliminates Medicare Part D cost‑sharing for hepatitis C DAAs for plan years 2027–2031, appropriates about $4.283 billion for the program, requires a national strategy and public dashboard, and limits use of the funds to U.S. citizens and specified lawful noncitizen groups unless the HHS Secretary expands eligibility by rule. The Secretary of Health and Human Services must set up the Hepatitis C Elimination Program quickly, create an advisory committee and interagency working group, issue a national strategy and implementation plan, run a public performance dashboard, award grants to states and eligible entities, negotiate manufacturer purchase agreements, and issue regulations and guidance to implement and enforce the program (including prohibiting use of other federal drug discount programs for drugs supplied under the subscription agreements).