Insurance Denies CLT Mom Lifesaving Meds

CHARLOTTE, NC — Medicaid is denying a Charlotte mother life-saving medication. She vows not to stop fighting for it.

“I’m ready to be Hepatitis cured” is the slogan on Harvoni’s website marketing the new treatment. Something April Blackwell says every day. She’s just $95,000 short.

“You know, you’re getting ready to die because you don’t have the money.” said Blackwell.

After Blackwell had her now 12-year-old daughter, doctors diagnosed her with Hepatitis C.

She now lives with chronic nausea and fatigue.

She spends her days researching the virus that will lead to liver failure.

“It means I’m dying! I’m dying!” said Blackwell.

However, in October, there was hope for her and the 150,000 other North Carolinians with the blood virus. Manufacturers announced a breakthrough: the pill with the 99 percent cure rate.

“It is truly miraculous,” Pharmacist Jesse Pike.

You won’t find the pill at Pike’s Pharmacy. It’s $1,000 a pill. Patients take three months worth of pills. None of his patients have been approved by their insurance.

“You either have to be nearly dead, according to the insurance guidelines, or you have to be a Donald Trump,” said Pike.

Blackwell’s Medicaid won’t help pay unless cirrhosis of the liver has set in. At that point, she says insurance would eventually be paying for her liver transplant.

“The cost to treat Hepatitis C patients over their lifetime is just horrendous. This is a bargain,” said Pike. “The Medicaid agencies are creating the roadblocks to treatment because they don’t have the funds to treat with an open door.”

Harvoni says there are payment plans for people who can afford insurance.

For the Charlotte mother, too ill to work, that isn’t an option.

“It gives me a lot of anxiety, and it’s not just for me. It’s not. Really, it’s for my daughter,” said Blackwell.