Collection:LPB

Genre: Newsmagazine

Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2019-07-05

Duration: 00:06:52

Subjects: Health Care | Drugs | Hepatitis C

Contributors:

• Moreau, Andre Host
• Fortenberry, Rex Q. Editor
• Nickens, Joni Interviewee
• Andrews, Leigha Interviewee

This segment from the July 5, 2019, episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features Andre Moreau’s report on the state’s new so-called “Netflix model” for purchasing Hepatitis C medications for Medicaid patients. Moreau reports that the state of Louisiana will pay a flat fee to a drug company for unlimited access to the medicine. He interviews Joni Nickens, a nurse practitioner at Open Health Care Clinic in Baton Rouge, who discusses her excitement at being able to treat all Hepatitis C patients under the plan and the effectiveness of the new Hepatitis C medications. Moreau also interviews Leigha Andrews, the director of clinical services, who discusses the clinic’s role in providing a wide variety of medical services to an underserved community in Baton Rouge.