The Economic Cost of Multiple Sclerosis

Having multiple sclerosis is not only a physical and emotional challenge, it is a financial one as well. Multiple sclerosis prevents people from working as much as they could without the disease and the cost of treatment and care can be very high. This puts a burden on patients and families alike.

A recent study in the U.K. tried to put a number to the economic cost of multiple sclerosis. They found that multiple sclerosis costs are mostly born be family members who provide care and money for treatments. In fact, 72% of the total costs of multiple sclerosis was provided informally by family members. Here is the breakdown of costs in the U.K where about 85,000 people live with MS (in pounds):

• informal care: 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion)
  
• professional care: 245 million pounds ($358 million)
  
• medication: 115 million pounds ($168 million)
  
• disability aids: 37 million pounds ($54 million)
  
• medical tests: 6 million pounds ($8.7 million)

This doesn't count the lost opportunity costs of not being able to work. For the U.S. the costs are different, but for a rough estimate multiple the above costs by 5 (because there are about 5 times more people living with multiple sclerosis in the U.S. than in the U.K.).