Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

01/19/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/19/2022 11:47

Michigan awarded an 'A' by national collaborative for advancement towards hepatitis C elimination

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 19, 2021

CONTACT: Chelsea Wuth, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. - The State of Michigan has been awarded top marks for its efforts to eliminate hepatitis C by the national Hep ElimiNATION project.

The O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) and the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) at Harvard Law School have launched Hep ElimiNATION, a project to assess nationwide viral hepatitis elimination progress and to guide jurisdictions towards development of a comprehensive plan to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. To measure each state's progress, NVHR and CHLPI developed a grading rubric used to score each state's capacity to eliminate viral hepatitis. Michigan was awarded grade letter "A" for advancements that have been made towards hepatitis C elimination.

"Receiving an 'A' is great news, and we continue to offer tools to providers that will help us in eliminating hepatitis C in Michigan," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) chief medical executive. "We offer complimentary hepatitis C consultation for providers interested in treating hepatitis C, and we continue to look at areas to improve treating and preventing this disease."

MDHHS published Michigan's State Plan on Eliminating Hepatitis C in April 2021 to articulate MDHHS' data-driven, evidence-based and culturally competent approach to eliminate hepatitis C in Michigan. MDHHS launched its We Treat Hep C Initiative on April 1, to expand access to hepatitis C treatment among Michigan Medicaid and Healthy Michigan Plan beneficiaries by removing prior authorization requirements for the hepatitis C medication, MAVYRET®. Michigan is one of only six states not requiring prior authorization.

Through the We Treat Hep C Initiative, treatment with MAVYRET is available to all Medicaid ($1 copay) and Healthy Michigan Plan (no copay) beneficiaries at little to no cost. Other direct-acting antivirals ($3 copay) will require prior authorization and will be approved only when MAVYRET is not clinically appropriate.

MDHHS has developed a website with Provider Resources, which includes frequently asked questions about the We Treat Hep C Initiative and hepatitis C treatment, hepatitis C clinical consultation programs, training webinars and resources and reference guides.

To help connect people with hepatitis C to a hepatitis C treatment provider, MDHHS has developed a Hepatitis C Treatment Provider Map which includes a listing of providers with hepatitis C treatment experience. While the listing is not a complete list of all hepatitis C treatment providers in the state of Michigan, it serves as a valuable resource for individuals looking for hepatitis C testing or treatment.

Visit Michigan.gov/WeTreatHepC for more information on hepatitis C testing and treatment.

For any questions regarding hepatitis C, please contact the MDHHS Viral Hepatitis Unit at [email protected].

###