[PoliticoPro] Tennessee Medicaid Sees $100 Million in Sovaldi Costs

Tennessee Medicaid Director Darin Gordon said today that his state has a $700 million annual pharmacy budget and it has spent $100 million alone on hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in the last four quarters. “No one would argue about bringing on innovative drugs that really have dramatic effects on people’s health,” Gordon said at a Kaiser Family Foundation briefing. “But how can we do it in a sustainable way?” Gordon’s comments came within days of Gilead’s latest hepatitis C drug, Harvoni, receiving FDA approval. That drug is priced at $94,500 for a 12-week treatment, compared with Sovaldi’s $84,000 price tag.

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