At nearly $38 billion, prescription medications accounted for the largest portion of direct medical costs. That was followed by clinic-administered drugs at $6.7 billion , and outpatient care at $5.5 billion , the researchers reported.
Compared to someone without MS, the average MS patient incurred over $65,000 in excess medical costs. That included $35,000 for medication, the study found. The annual cost for a person taking MS medications ranged from $57,000 to nearly $93,000, according to the report published online April 13 in the journalBut medications and health care are not the only factors in the overall economic burden of MS. People with the neurologic disease may have to limit their work or be unable to work at all, reducing their productivity and income.
And patients' family members may need to give up their jobs to act as caregivers, the study authors noted.can result in considerable disruption to daily living including work, physical independence, mobility and social interaction," Bebo said in a journal news release. For the study, the researchers analyzed Medicare and insurance claims from just under 10,600 people with MS and close to 106,000 others. They also surveyed about 950 participants and their caregivers about indirect costs, such as job loss or lost productivity on the job, cost of paid and unpaid caregivers, and home modifications.