If you missed my first story, you can read it here: rollcall.com/2026/04/27/d...
I have found it incredibly rewarding to talk to people cured of hep C about how it changed their lives. More stories to come!
A key sticking point is cost: lawmakers have struggled to get bills through Congress that cost money up front but reduce costs in the long-term. This bill would do that. By expanding access to testing and treatment, you reduce the long-term costs of treating sicker people
All in all, it's a weird time to get public health spending through Congress. I haven't even gotten into reemerging policies that will harm people who inject drugs, the primary group of people impacted by hep C. That will come in future stories.
Now no one is doing that research. This comes at a time of rising congenital syphilis rates. “Without that data, men have access to that product but women don’t," said a researcher I spoke with.
rollcall.com/2025/03/26/w...
But the bill from Sen. Cassidy has stalled in Congress. Despite bipartisan sponsors in the senate, it hasn’t received a committee hearing or a vote, as lawmakers focus on other priorities and broader partisan fights over health spending.