Screening remains to be the best defense against detecting the hepatitis virus in its earliest stages, and potentially developing life-threatening complications, later down the line. Dubbed as the “silent killer,” hepatitis doesn’t exhibit obvious symptoms in many people, who may live, comfortably, with the virus for years and only discover their condition at its advanced, acute stage. Noting the importance of the timeliness of testing, Texas-based Link2Labs is making affordable hepatitis C tests available to uninsured and underinsured people.
BARRIERS TO TESTING AND TREATMENT
Even with health insurance, many people are unable to secure testing. When Wayne Gosbee – the current CEO of Link2Labs — worked at Texas Medical Center for over 20 years, he repeatedly witnessed the all-too-familiar scene of individuals missing their hepatitis C test because of insurance issues. “Many barriers exist [around screening] that need to be overcome, but I believe the two greatest are: screening individuals and access to care,” he noted. “All healthcare providers should be asking and testing their patients, based on the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and United States Preventive Services Task Force. And all recovery and medication assisted treatment (MAT) facilities need to make testing mandatory.”
Notably, New York State has enacted the first state-level Hepatitis C Testing Law that has boosted rapid testing rates since 2014. However, access to treatment remains a challenge in the state, as well as in the rest of the country. There are clearly “not enough providers to treat, and the cost for everything—lab tests, consultation with a liver specialist or hepatologist, and medications,” pointed Gosbee, is out of reach.
HOPE IN COLLABORATION
To address these challenges, Gosbee shared some tested strategies at Link2Labs.
“I collaborate with clinics, organizations, and county health departments to offer free hepatitis C screening. These are the locations that individuals are going to seek general health advice and care,” he said. These locations have reported an average a 10% hepatitis C antibody positive prevalence, while recovery and MAT facilities reported 17.1% to over 50% prevalence.
With Link2Labs’ focus is on Texas, Gosbee shared that those who screen positive for hepatitis C at the lab would get baseline and pretreatment tests (CBC, CMP, PT INR, HAV, HBsAg, HBsAb, HBcoreAB, and HIV) at a deeply discounted price ($64 vs. $1,900 in other clinics). Gosbee also works with hepatologists via telemedicine and with non-profit organizations to connect patients with affordable and accessible treatment.
For example, as Gosbee shared, an uninsured patient at a gastrointestinal doctor’s office was told that the baseline lab tests are going to cost $1,958; the patient had just paid $250 for the consultation. Thankfully, a nurse at the clinic heard about Link2Labs and shared its contact information with the patient, who was later given a free test via telemedicine.
In another case, Link2Labs connected a patient who had a high insurance deductible ($4,800) with the Patient Assistance Network Foundation, which paid the deductible. The patient then got her lab tests from Link2Labs for a much more affordable price.
“My role is to build relationships with uninsured and free clinics, offer free Hepatitis C testing, write grants, and link individuals with [health] care,” said Gosbee. To date, Link2Labs is a two-man operation with plans of expansion, but its model of low-cost testing and inter-network collaboration promotes hope for accessible liver health care for underserved communities.
ADRLF is pleased to shine a spotlight on Link2Labs for its important work around a common goal we share to help curtail hepatitis — our mission to encourage all to: Screen. Vaccinate. Don’t Hesitate!
To know more about hepatitis C testing, here are CDC’s recommendations
To learn more about keeping your liver healthy, visit our blog here
