Sponsors (4)
The bill substantially expands federally coordinated hepatitis C prevention, testing, and treatment—reducing costs for many patients and targeting high‑risk groups—while requiring large new federal spending and creating implementation, participation, and program‑design constraints that could leave some providers or populations out and limit certain harm‑reduction options.
Patients with hepatitis C (including Medicaid, Medicare, uninsured, incarcerated, and tribal patients) will get substantially expanded access to coordinated federal prevention, testing, and treatment programs under a national implementation strategy and funding.
Many patients will face little or no out-of-pocket costs for direct-acting antivirals: covered populations (including Indian Health Service users) have no cost-sharing, and Medicare beneficiaries have no Part D cost-sharing for DAAs in 2028–2032, improving affordability and likely increasing treatment uptake.
The Act directs targeted outreach and resources to priority and high‑risk populations (including correctional systems, tribal health programs, rural communities, and substance‑use treatment settings), increasing the chance of reaching those with higher HCV prevalence.
Taxpayers and federal budgets face large new costs from multi‑billion appropriations and eliminated cost‑sharing (including a $5.5B appropriation, a $4.283B elimination program appropriation, and increased Medicare/Part D spending), raising concerns about budgetary trade‑offs and deficits.
Because states and correctional systems must opt in (and must submit multi‑year commitments), some eligible people may be left outside the centrally procured program if their state or system declines to participate, producing uneven coverage across the country.
Prohibiting use of other federal drug discount programs (including 340B) for hepatitis C drugs and altering Medicaid best‑price/AMP treatment of subscription prices could shift costs onto hospitals, pharmacies, and safety‑net providers and change manufacturer pricing behavior, potentially reducing access or financial viability for some providers.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Creates an HHS hepatitis C elimination program, funds grants, purchases and distributes hepatitis C cures via a subscription model with no cost‑sharing, and removes Medicare Part D cost‑sharing for DAAs 2028–2032.
Official title: To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out activities to eliminate hepatitis C virus in the United States.
Introduced July 14, 2026 by Mariannette Miller-Meeks · Last progress July 14, 2026
Creates a federal program at HHS to eliminate hepatitis C by coordinating prevention, testing, treatment, and data tracking; buys hepatitis C cures under a federal subscription purchasing model and distributes them at no cost to enrolled populations (including participating state/local correctional systems, Bureau of Prisons, registered pharmacies, and Indian Health Service sites). The bill funds grants to states and community partners to expand outreach, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and wraparound services, and it eliminates Medicare Part D cost‑sharing for direct‑acting antivirals for specified years.