VA To Cover Hep C Treatments Again

With More Funding, VA to Cover Vets Requiring Hepatitis C Treatments
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
Mar 10, 2016

The Veterans Affairs Department said Wednesday it will now be able to cover the costs of caring for all veterans with hepatitis C for the current fiscal year, regardless of the stage of the patient's liver disease.

VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin said the expanded care is the result of increased funding from Congress as well as reduced drug prices.

The department last year allocated $696 million for new hepatitis C drugs, accounting for 17 percent of the VA's total pharmacy budget. In fiscal 2016, which began Oct. 1, the VA expects to spend about $1 billion on hepatitis C drugs.

"We're honored to be able to expand treatment for Veterans who are afflicted with hepatitis C," Shulkin said in a statement. "To manage limited resources previously, we established treatment priority for the sickest patients."

With the expansion, the VA now expects many more veterans will be started on hepatitis C treatment every week through the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The department statement did not address 2017 costs, though it has requested $1.5 billion in its next-year's budget for the hepatitis C treatments and clinical resources.
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American Liver Foundation’s Nurse Martha Shea Shines

This is the type of person working for the VA. Shea is a volunteer with the American Liver Foundation. When I have a complaint about the VA, it's with the people making the rules and running it, but over 26 years, I could count the number of times there has been anything to complain about when it comes to the people working with the veterans at the VA. The problem is, because people at the top forgot why they went to work for the VA, nothing will be fixed until they remember, it was to serve the veterans that gave so much to all of us.

Giving Back
‘You Feel Like You’re Talking to an Angel’
1
By JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL
Published: December 22, 2008

AS a nurse who deals with liver disease — a particularly trying medical field with a steady drumbeat of dispiriting news — Martha Shea does everything but get away from it after hours.

“I’m just passionate about what I do,” said Ms. Shea, 57, on a recent weekend in a moment of rare repose at her home in Wallingford.

Ms. Shea is described as tough but compassionate by patients she has seen over the years at the Veterans Affairs hospital in West Haven. She has worked there since 1979, first running a hepatology research lab and since 1987, as a nurse — now the nurse-manager of the hepatitis C resource center.

After 25 years in the Air Force Reserve, Ms. Shea retired in 2001 and has been a diligent volunteer with the American Liver Foundation’s Connecticut chapter in North Haven ever since.

“She’s sort of a whirling dervish,” said JoAnn Thompson, the chapter’s executive director. As chairwoman of the chapter’s annual Liver Life Walk the last two years, Ms. Shea raised record amounts of money: $110,000 in 2007, then $142,000 in 2008.

But there’s more. “Whatever we need her for, she finds time to come in and help us out,” Ms. Thompson said.

That can mean stuffing envelopes or decorating the office for the holidays, as Ms. Shea recently did. But more often, she uses the medical skills honed on the front lines of liver disease research and care, volunteering at a half-dozen health fairs a year — usually opting to work a whole day rather than a single shift. And she volunteers with the foundation’s treatment choices initiative — an educational program aimed at those at high risk for contracting hepatitis C.

“I just saw the need and how important it was and how it helped the patients,” Ms. Shea said, explaining why she volunteers on top of her regular job, which includes a hepatitis support group at the V.A. hospital that she runs on her own time. “My feeling for my patients — it’s not just sitting there at the V.A. I advocate for them. I’ll go to congresspeople. I’ll help them write letters. I’ll help them find a place at the shelter. It’s not just ‘come into the clinic, get your shot, here’s your pill.’ ”
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Natalie Cole says she has hepatitis C

Natalie Cole says she has hepatitis C

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 16, 2008
Filed at 10:24 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP)-- Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole has been diagnosed with hepatitis C, her publicist said in a statement Wednesday.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease spread through contact with infected blood. The statement said the disease was revealed during a routine examination and was likely caused by her drug use years ago.

''I've been so fortunate to have learned so much from my past experiences,'' said Cole. ''I am embraced by the love and support of my family and friends; I am committed to my belief in myself and in my abiding faith to meet this challenge with a heartfelt optimism and determination. This is how I intend to deal with this current challenge in my life.''
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One of the problems Vietnam Vets have that does not get enough attention is Hepatitis C. A lot of them have it. There have been reports of this in the past. They all need to be tested to know if they have it or not. If they even suspect they have it, they need to stop drinking.