Louisiana looks to a Netflix model to pay for hepatitis C treatment

Louisiana officials are moving forward with a plan to pay for pricey hepatitis C treatments for Medicaid enrollees and people in state prisons — and they’re taking a page from Netflix, in a way. Officials estimate that about 39,000 people in Medicaid and state prisons are known to be infected with hepatitis C. The state is looking for drug makers who would supply treatments in a sort of subscription-based model. The state would pay a set amount over five years, and in exchange, would get unlimited access to the drugs for Medicaid enrollees and people in state prisons. Experts say it'll be critical for Louisiana figure out how to make sure there are enough providers trained to treat those patients and to consider the costs of related care, like lab tests.