May 27, 2011
NEW YORK, NY… As the average cost of MS in the United States is nearly $70,000 a year, with the overall annual economic cost of MS being an estimated $28 billion, people living with MS face high out-of-pocket costs even when covered by health insurance. The high out-of-pocket costs for medical care and treatment create not only a financial burden but also discourage people from starting and staying on therapy, which right now is the best approach available for preventing disease activity in people with relapsing MS, the most common form of the disease.
As part of the millions of Americans receiving their medical coverage through Medicare, people with MS have already begun to benefit from improvements to the Medicare prescription drug program included in the Affordable Care Act and are now receiving a 50% discount on covered brand name medications bought when they are in the “donut hole.” This is particularly important for people with MS as there are no generic equivalents at present for any of the FDA approved disease modifying therapies used by the MS population. For those on symptom management therapies where generic drugs are an option, a 7% discount is now being realized.
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