Contact: media@sfaf.og
August 31, 2026, SACRAMENTO–On August 30, 2026, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1843, authored by Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, which if passed would remove unnecessary barriers to the hepatitis C cure. Upon its passage, advocates and policy experts called on Governor Newsom to sign AB 1843 into law.
Assembly Bill 1843 would generally prevent health insurance companies from requiring healthcare providers to get approval before the insurers will cover medications that can cure hepatitis C. Requiring “prior authorization” (PA) for hepatitis C drugs delays treatment, which often causes providers to lose contact with hepatitis C patients experiencing instability. About two-thirds of privately insured people with hepatitis C don’t start treatment within 360 days of being diagnosed, due in part to PA requirements.
Assemblymember Sade Elhawary called on the governor to approve the measure. “The problem is not the treatment, it’s the access. Communities like mine shouldn’t suffer from a disease that is curable. AB 1843 aligns health plans with current medical guidelines so patients can get treated when they need it, not weeks or months later.”
The co-sponsors of AB 1843, San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) and End Hep C SF, also urged Gov. Newsom to sign the legislation. “As hepatitis C treatment providers, we at SFAF see firsthand the transformative impact that accessing the hepatitis C cure has on people’s lives,” said Jonathan Frochtzwajg, SFAF’s Director of Health Justice Policy. “No one should miss their chance to be cured of an infectious disease because their insurance company forced them to jump through pointless hoops.”
An estimated 400,000 people in California have hepatitis C. The disease can cause liver damage, liver cancer, and death. Hepatitis C is infectious, spreading when blood from a person infected with the hepatitis C virus enters the body of an uninfected person. More than 35,000 cases of hepatitis C are newly reported in California each year.
Medications that cure more than 95% of hepatitis C cases have been available since 2013. However, barriers such as PA requirements have blocked many people with hepatitis C from gaining access to these drugs. California’s Medicaid program has eliminated PA requirements, but many of the state’s private insurers continue to impose these restrictions, claiming that eliminating PA would ultimately increase their customers’ premiums. An analysis of AB 1843 conducted for the Legislature found that the bill would, in fact, have practically no effect on premiums.
Supporters of AB 1843 in California and beyond encouraged Governor Newsom to give the bill his signature.
“Hepatitis C remains epidemic in California, with hundreds to thousands infected and untreated,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and a leading hepatitis C expert. “Eliminating prior-authorization requirements is a critical step in assuring all Californians can be easily treated and cured of their infection.”
“Insurers use prior authorization as a way to limit patient access to healthcare, and it’s one of the greatest burdens for patients in using their insurance. We congratulate the California legislature for passing AB 1843, which will remove this barrier in accessing hepatitis C curative drugs,” said Carl Schmid, the executive director of the national HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute. “It will not only transform the lives of people living with hepatitis C but help end a serious infectious disease. We urge Governor Newsom to sign this bill into law.”
“Removing prior authorization for hepatitis C treatment is medically justified, financially responsible, and morally necessary,” said Scott Suckow, the executive director of the Liver Coalition of San Diego. “California cannot eliminate hepatitis C without eliminating the barriers that keep people from the cure. AB 1843 is the right step forward, and we encourage Governor Newsom to sign it.”
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