Insurers urge Gilead rivals to discount hep C drugs

Insurers are still reeling from the $84,000 price tag of the Gilead Sciences hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, reports Reuters. For the nearly 3.2 million Americans who have hep C, it would cost $200 billion to treat them. So some insurers are limiting who can receive the drug and pushing Gilead's rivals to discount their own hep C treatments--claiming the unforeseen costs will cut 2014 earnings and force rate hikes. While insurers cannot deny patients certain critical drugs that improve their health, its imperative that insurers control the volume of treatment used, Reuters noted. Article