The annual economic burden for the nearly 1 million people living with Multiple Sclerosis in the U.S. is, wait for it … $85.4 billion.

That’s billion. With a “b.”

The $85.4 billion, according to a report from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, is the total cost to all of society, which includes people living with MS; employers; health insurers; and federal, state and local government.

Join us for this episode of A Couple Takes on MS Podcast as we bring awareness to the high-cost realities of what it takes to live with MS and a disability.

The reality is that there is nothing cheap about living with MS. Whether it’s having to pay for a hotel room while visiting friends and family because their homes aren’t handicapped accessible, covering costs for purchasing and maintaining a power wheelchair and accessible van, or all the added supplements and heath care products, life with MS is expensive.

And we haven’t even mentioned the astronomical costs for disease-modifying therapies. How astronomical? As of February 2022, the median annual price of the brand MS DMTs is close to $94,000. Six of the MS DMTs, all on market since 2009 or earlier, have increased in price more than 200% and nine DMTs are now priced at over $100,000.

The sad thing is that the aforementioned figures are from studies released last year, so Lord knows how much annual increases and inflation have ballooned the costs related to having MS.

And, as we note in our podcast, we aren’t talking about this to complain or go on a rant; rather, it’s to increase awareness about the seemingly unfair financial facts of life with MS that so many of the nearly 1 million people in the U.S. living with the disease are just expected to deal with and accept.

Here are the links to the articles we discussed:

• Cost of Multiple Sclerosis

• The Economic Burden of Multiple Sclerosis in the United States