Treating Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Jails as an Offset to Declines in Treatment Activity in the Community, New York City, NY, 2014–2020

Abstract

Introduction

There are scant data on implementation of large-scale direct-acting antiviral treatment for hepatitis C virus in jails in the U.S. New York City Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services aimed to scale up hepatitis C virus treatment in the New York City jail system. This study describes the trends in annual hepatitis C virus treatment in New York City jails compared with those in Medicaid-funded treatment in the New York City community from 2014 to 2020.

Methods

In this observational study, we extracted annual counts of direct-acting antiviral prescriptions for hepatitis C virus for those (1) in the New York City community who were covered by Medicaid and (2) those detained in New York City jails for 2014–2020. Data sources were New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene annual reports and Correctional Health Services treatment records, respectively. We used linear regression analysis to test for significant trends in annual treatment in these 2 cohorts during 2015–2019.

Results

From 2015 to 2019, treatments started in New York City jails increased annually (p=0.001), whereas Medicaid-funded prescriptions in the New York City community declined since a peak in 2015 (p<0.001). In 2019, New York City jail-based treatment initiations totaled the equivalent of 10% of treatment covered by Medicaid in New York City, up from 0.3% in 2015.

Conclusions

Scale up of jail-based hepatitis C virus treatment is an important strategy to offset declines observed in the community. Addressing barriers to care in jail, such as improving testing, linkage to care, and affordability of direct-acting antivirals for jail-based health services, can help sustain high levels of treatment in U.S. jails and other carceral facilities.