OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical characteristics and economic burden of patients diagnosed with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the U.S. veteran population. METHODS: A retrospective database analysis was performed using the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Medical SAS Datasets from October 1, 2005 to May 31, 2012. All U.S. veteran beneficiaries diagnosed with HCV were identified using International Classification of Disease 9th Revision Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis codes 070.41, 070.44, 070.51, 070.54, and V02.62. Comorbidities and other clinical conditions were assessed for the 12-month baseline period. Healthcare resource utilization and costs were assessed for the 12-month follow-up period. Descriptive statistics were calculated as means ± standard deviation (SD) and percentages to measure cost, and utilization distribution in the sample.  RESULTS: A total of 146,161 veterans were diagnosed with HCV during the study period. Among the 10 most common baseline comorbidities, hypertension was the only condition comprising of more than 20% of patients. Patients were also diagnosed with comorbid lumbago (8.26%), presbyopia (3.93%) and backache (3.80%), which are common in the elderly population.  During the baseline period, 4172 patients (or approximately 3% of the patient population) had Albumin test results of <3.0 mg/dl. 15.03% of patients had Prolonged Prothrombin Time Test results of >3.0 seconds. Omeprazole (16.06%), lisinopril (15.86%) and hydrochlorothiazide (10.88%) were the most commonly prescribed medications within 60 days of initial disease identification. Inpatient (26.84%), emergency room (ER) (30.06%), office (99.78%), outpatient (99.81%) and pharmacy visits (93.65%) were calculated. Healthcare utilizations translated to the following healthcare expenses: inpatient ($9,841, SD $38,442), ER ($393, SD $1,042), office visit ($9,587, SD $13,035), outpatient ($10,169, SD $13,599), and pharmacy costs ($1,771, SD $4,703). CONCLUSIONS: HCV treatment is complicated by the presence of comorbidities such as hypertension. Further analysis of complicated comorbid conditions is required to improve the overall burden of illness of HCV patients.