A new drug to treat hepatitis C that costs $1,000 a pill has caused rising concern among insurers and state Medicaid programs...[and] spurred interest from Democratic congressmen...[who] have demanded that Gilead Sciences...justify the price of its drug...called Sovaldi. “...a treatment will not cure patients if they cannot afford it,” the congressmen said... Gregg Alton, executive vice president for corporate and medical affairs at Gilead, said...“We think the price is fair...It will save the system money long term.”... Dr. Steve Miller, the chief medical officer for Express Scripts,...said more than half of those infected were uninsured or in Medicaid, in prisons or veterans. That means the costs will fall largely on taxpayers... Gilead says Sovaldi is actually less expensive per patient cured than the previous treatments, once the lower cure rate and severe side effects of those treatments are taken into account. [also refers to Biogen Idec, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Celgene]