Whatever you choose to call it – and our outgoing President was quite proud of the moniker “Obamacare”, right up until the moment the tipping point had been reached – the following encapsulates the problem:

“It has not worked. In fact Obamacare has been a spectacular failure. Rather than providing affordable health care for all, it has been exposed at its core as a scheme which has indentured the entire populace to a system which is rigged to pick their pockets on a scale which is difficult to imagine unless one has actually seen it at work.”

So, I’m very happy to go back on topic, but understand this: The outgoing administration of which you are so fond GAJ, put a gun to our heads while big government, big pharma, and big insurance looted and pillaged the bank accounts of already hard pressed Americans.

The world press being what it is, I’m not sure you fully grasp the extent to which the US election was a complete rejection and repudiation of the above described practices and policies. In fact, in reading your ‘rebuttal’, it is quite clear you do not.

No doubt big pharma will continue to fight tooth and nail for their obscene margins, but for Generic DAAs, the train has left the station. That ship has sailed. We know it, Gilead knows it, and increasingly the entire world knows it.

If they [Gilead] are successful in quashing the Indian supply chain, we will simply source medications elsewhere. Bangladesh for example, or Vietnam, or any one of a hundred other countries where licensing laws are non-applicable.

Dr. Freeman has been very active in blazing that trail, which one can already foresee will eventually become a super highway for access to lifesaving medications.

The world wide market is simply too large and compelling, and the need so overwhelming, that supply will inevitably seek out demand – no matter what artificial barriers are imposed.

Need proof the writing is on the wall? Gilead is already distancing itself from reliance on HCV medication cash flow, and looking elsewhere to source its cash ‘pipelines’.

Preferring a ‘captive’ market, they [Gilead] have now set their sights on buying up proprietary cancer drugs (their greed and evil obviously knows no bounds) . http://www.biospace.com/News/gilead-ceo-targets-cancer-acquisitions-with-21/418644

No arguments with regard to US health care costs. Using the metrics Dr. Freeman stated, cutting US healthcare costs in half without sacrificing quality of care is absolutely do-able.

The current administration has had their shot at it, and no one wanted to see it work for the common good more than I .

It has not worked. In fact Obamacare has been a spectacular failure. Rather than providing affordable health care for all, it has been exposed at its core as a scheme which has indentured the entire populace to a system which is rigged to pick their pockets on a scale which is difficult to imagine unless one has actually seen it at work.

For Americans with Hep C, it has become a particularly onerous nightmare. On one hand we are forced under penalty of stiff fines to purchase exorbitantly expensive, second rate, catastrophic health care coverage. On the other hand if one can even get to the point where insurance will begin to pay necessary medical expenses, the chances of being denied coverage for lifesaving DAA therapy for HCV are currently between 98 and 99 percent.

By the way, for non-US forum members who are just learning about this – before one can access health insurance to pay medical expenses in the US, there is a $7,000+ per person, per year “deductible” which must be paid out of pocket. This deductible does not include the cost of the insurance itself which is paid monthly.

Yearly increases for the cost of the insurance itself averaged over 10% nationally in 2016. For 2017, the iincrease for the cost of health insurance will average over 25% nationally, with increases in some states exceeding 50%, and in one state (Arizona), exceeding 150%.

A major driver of higher US health care costs has been an unprecedented and unchecked increase in (greed driven) pharmaceutical costs. Take for example the ‘Epi-pen’ which is a lifesaving emergency self injection device used to counter anaphylactic (allergic) shock.

Pre-Obamacare, a prescription for two Epi-pens was $100. Post Obamacare the price has risen to $700. Politicians, the health care industry, and especially the pharmaceutical companies are lining their pockets as never before, and the current (outgoing) regime has been run out on a rail due in no small part to the well justified outrage of Americans who are absolutely sick and tired of being used and abused in this manner.

Look, the point of all of this is that we in the US were pretty much ‘on our own’ in terms of seeking out and paying for effective treatment for Hep C. That fact has not fundamentally changed, and even if the new administration is able to get meaningful reforms through (and that is a big ‘IF’ – it will take years to fully implement.

Those of us with Hep C in the US don’t have years to let the politicians sort it out for us, and none of us are foolish enough to believe they’ll get it right if they do.

The election is over, but for us – Americans with Hep C – nothing has changed. While the politicians head off to DC to divide up the spoils, we are left to our own resources and devices. Our choice remains “Treat or Die” – and for almost 100% of us generic DAAs remain the best and only option.

Hi Murr,

Congratulations on your result!

The text states: “Thank you for your request. Your results are as follows:”

The sensitivity of the test is: 0.01 kIU/ml. Your result is less than 0.01 kIU/ml

For our purposes <0.01 kIU/ml = UNDETECTED

Once again congratulations. Looks like SVR4 to me!!!

Congratulations on your big win, Meg! Cured!!!