Cost of treatment

How much a country spends on healthcare is associated with the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS), with higher spending nations seeing a greater number of MS cases, a study found. MS cases might be underestimated in low-income nations that put less money into the healthcare system, resulting in reduced…

Are you ready to buy your healthcare services from the same place you can buy almost everything else under the sun? Amazon hopes you are. Last month, the giant of online sales announced plans to acquire One Medical, a company that operates more than 125 medical offices across…

My multiple sclerosis medications cost me a lot, even with good insurance. Yours probably do, too, if you don’t live in a country where the government picks up your drug costs. But now billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is taking a big bite out of the cost of some…

Sepsis, a life-threatening response to an infection that can result in tissue damage and organ failure, was reported in nearly one-third of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), a Texas study found. This condition was linked to longer hospital stays, higher costs, and a…

It may sound like a joke or a scam, but there’s a nonprofit organization called RIP Medical Debt that might pay off your medical debt. Yep, all of it. According to the organization’s website, RIP Medical Debt has paid off more than $6.7 billion of other people’s medical bills…

Kesimpta (ofatumumab) is now accessible to eligible Canadians with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) through public drug plans in Ontario and Quebec. The treatment has been included as an exceptional medication under both the Ontario Drug Benefit Exceptional Access Program and the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec. This…

Progressive MS Trial Finds Repeat Bone Marrow Infusion Safe, Feasible Two bone marrow transplant studies are reported in this story. The first, a tiny trial of just six people, assessed the safety of this procedure, which involves harvesting cells from their bone marrow, then infusing them into the bloodstream…

I always knew that living with multiple sclerosis (MS) was super-expensive, but a new study is a real eye-opener. The study, published in the journal Neurology, puts the annual tab for MS in…

A program aimed at optimizing the use of highly effective therapies successfully lowered treatment costs and relapse rates among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Southern California, according to a study. “Our novel physician-led approach simultaneously reduced MS DMT [disease-modifying therapy] expenditures and the frequency of MS relapses. We…

Under rules in the No Surprises Act, insured patients people in the U.S., including those with multiple sclerosis, should no longer receive unexpected medical bills for emergency care or for treatment from out-of-network providers at facilities in their network. The act, which became effective on Jan. 1, prohibits…

Note: This story was updated Jan. 12, 2022, to note that Ponvory is approved in the U.K. for people with relapsing forms of MS who have active disease, defined by clinical or imaging features. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Ponvory (ponesimod)…

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England is set to again recommend against adding Fampyra (fampridine) to the list of medications available to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with walking difficulties through the country’s national health service (NHS). The poor cost-effectiveness of Fampyra — sold…

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has recommended that Ponvory (ponesimod) be offered through the National Health Service (NHS) Scotland to people with active, relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The decision means that the oral therapy will be available at low or no cost to patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS),…

Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) was found to be a cost-effective treatment for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experiencing a relapse, according to an economic analysis. Notably, the economic value of Acthar Gel was greater than that of alternative treatments — plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin — from the…

Editor’s note: The Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the virtual 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), Oct. 13–15. Go here to see the latest stories from the conference. The total economic…

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will not recommend that Ponvory (ponesimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales for people with active, relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The provisional decision, made because Ponvory was not found to be…

People in Australia with multiple sclerosis (MS) and certain other medical conditions will have access to new and expanded medications — including Kesimpta — now listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Having these medications on the PBS will lower treatment costs for MS patients and their…

People living with multiple sclerosis know that the medications used to treat it are expensive. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the median annual price of brand-name disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) last year was $91,835. Five of them carried a price tag of more than $100,000 a year. Many pharmaceutical…

In the first installment of our new series, “Expert Voices,” Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked Martin Shenkman, a certified public accountant and lawyer, to answer some of your questions related to financial planning for people with multiple sclerosis (MS).  Shenkman is an attorney in private practice in Fort Lee, New…

Most people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.S. have health insurance, but many lack important other types of insurance, such as life insurance, short-term disability insurance, and long-term care insurance, according to an online survey of patients. Its findings suggest that MS patients who are likely to be…

Sativex (nabiximols), a cannabis-based oral spray approved in the U.K. to ease spasticity — or muscle stiffness and spasms — in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), remains unavailable to many patients there, according to a report by the MS Society UK. Sativex is the only licensed…

Adults in Scotland with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) will now have access at low or no cost to Kesimpta (ofatumumab), the first self-administered, at-home B-cell-targeting therapy for people with the neurodegenerative disease. The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) recommended that the Novartis therapy be available through the…

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has maintained its initial draft recommendation and will not recommend that Zeposia (ozanimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales. This final decision on the cost effectiveness of the oral therapy means Zeposia will…

Retinal Layer Thickness May Predict MS Progression, Relapses We all know how unpredictable MS is. For some, it progresses very quickly, while for others, it follows a slow progression over many years. Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew the course our disease is likely to follow, right from…

The overall cost of disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.S. remained stable from 2018 to 2020, according to pharmacy and medical claims data from Prime Therapeutics’ insured members. This stabilization derived from a balance between a reduction in Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection) use due…

The cost of medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurologic disorders saw a sharp rise between 2013 and 2017 in the U.S., a study of Medicare prescription claims shows. Analysis of Medicare payments during these five years revealed that the cost of neuroimmunology therapies, mostly for MS, increased by…

Editor’s note: The Multiple Sclerosis News Today news team is providing in-depth and unparalleled coverage of the virtual ACTRIMS Forum 2021, Feb. 25–27. Go here to see the latest stories from the conference. Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who continue taking disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) throughout pregnancy accrue lower non-maternity healthcare…

If you’re having trouble paying for your MS medications, you’re not alone. I regularly see social media posts from people whose insurance has changed or whose insurance company has suddenly dropped a medication from its formulary (the list of meds it will pay for). Or, it has decided that you…

The answer to whether Amazon, in partnership with a pair of financial giants, can make healthcare more accessible and less expensive for its workers is: Apparently, it can’t. About two years after rolling out a project known as Haven, the plug is being pulled. The idea had been for…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is expensive. Even with good insurance, those of us living in a country without universal healthcare have significant out-of-pocket costs for our treatments and medications. Some of these costs may not be covered at all. MS can put us into some serious debt, and it happens to…