> The new drugs for Hep C have a pretty high cure rate and cost less than $100,000.

And yet what percentage of the prison population has it? Last time I checked, treating everyone would be so expensive that it isn’t even on the table.

Good question. This article has some numbers:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/prisoners-with-hep-c-ge...

A lot of states are providing treatment to those with liver damage (which in the context of the thread means that they are likely reducing costs vs treating the chronic disease).

I guess $33 billion is too expensive to get popular support, but it really isn't that much money, especially if the reduction in future infections is taken into account.

> I guess $33 billion is too expensive to get popular support, but it really isn't that much money

Especially when even a small bridge costs a billion dollars these days, e.g.:

https://ctviewpoints.org/2016/11/08/the-billion-dollar-bridg...