A new treatment for hepatitis C is considered a breakthrough for people with the liver disease. But the high cost of the drug — about $1,000 a pill — has complicated efforts to get the medication to Texans who receive government-subsidized health care. UTMB’s correctional managed care department, which oversees inmates’ medical services, has been charged with recommending how and when the drug is used in prisons. If the treatment is approved, Sovaldi could become the hepatitis drug of choice for the state’s inmates, Owen Murray, the vice president for the correctional managed care program, said. But he added that because of the drug’s cost, it could be prioritized among inmates who have a particular degree of liver damage — an effort to be “clinically and fiscally responsible.” The article originated in the Texas Tribune.