Many community organizations around the country have asked to be part of a sign-on letter to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in response to its draft hepatitis C testing recommendations. NVHR encourages organizations to sign the letter below asking the USPSTF to change its “C” grade of testing Baby Boomers to a “B.” The letter will be submitted as public comment at 5 pm Pacific time, Friday, December 21st.
Please note that it is extremely important that we flood the USPSTF with separate public comment letters. So, in addition to signing this letter, please submit your own comments – as individuals and as organizations. There will be other sign-on letters circulating in the next few days and all are worthy of signatures, but please make sure you submit your own comments as well. Over 100,000 lives are at stake.
To sign the letter below, email the following information to .
Deadline: 5 pm Pacific, Thursday, December 20th.
Name of organization
City, state
Contact person
Sign-on letter:
Virginia Moyer, MD, MPH
Chair
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
540 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850
Dear Dr. Moyer,
The undersigned organizations strongly urge you to change your recommended “C” grade for hepatitis C testing of those born between 1945 – 1965 (“baby boomers”) to a “B” grade.
We appreciate and support your “B” grade recommendation for hepatitis C testing of adults at high risk, including those with a history of injection drug use and those who received a blood transfusion prior to 1992. This recommendation is a significant step forward in recognizing the need for those individuals to be tested for hepatitis C, and linked to care if testing positive.
However, we are deeply disappointed in your “C” grade for testing those born between 1945 and 1965 for hepatitis C. This recommendation fails to match the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s lifesaving recommendation that everyone in this birth cohort receive a one-time hepatitis C test. Baby boomers represent 75% of the more than 4 million cases of hepatitis C in this country. The overwhelming majority do not know their status. The CDC accurately recognized that the best way to identify these individuals, so that they can benefit from care and treatment before developing late stage liver disease, is to ensure that they have an opportunity to be tested regardless of risk assessment. Testing everyone in this age range removes stigma associated with the test, thus reducing barriers on the provider and the patient end. According to the CDC, this one time test would result in identifying over 800,000 cases and avoiding up to 121,000 deaths.
As you know, many medical providers rely heavily on your guidelines, and many insurers use your guidelines when determining what services to cover. A “C” recommendation will result in many people not being tested during routine medical visits and misses a tremendous opportunity to save lives. Your draft recommendation conflicts with the federal government’s stated commitment to mount a real fight against the hepatitis C epidemic. You have acknowledged a benefit of testing baby boomers for hepatitis C, and we urge you to change your grade to a “B” to make sure this benefit is realized.
Sincerely,
List of organizations in formation