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Predicting The Effects Of Medicaid's Sobriety Requirements On The Spread Of Hepatitis C In Rhode Island, Mary Cate Gallagher

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

Hepatitis C (HCV) is the most prevalent infectious disease in America (1). This virus is spread through blood to blood contact, and disproportionally affects the People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) community. There is a 99% effective curative treatment available. However, Rhode Island Medicaid stipulates that a patient must be six months sober before accessing this treatment. Because of this barrier, less than 16% of people infected with HCV are able to access the curative treatment and the disease continues to run rampant throughout the state. Using SIS disease spread modeling techniques fit to current published Rhode Island Department of Health …