Medicaid has a new way to pay for costly sickle cell treatment: Only if it works

Serenity Cole lives in St. Louis with her grandmother, Theresa Cole. Serenity is doing well after being one of the first patients to get a gene therapy treatment for sickle cell disease under a new payment model in Medicaid.

Medicaid is doing a novel payment system for the new, promising and expensive sickle cell treatment. It may become a model for all gene therapies being developed.

(Image credit: Judd Demaline for KFF Health News)