[Victor H]

Multiple Sclerosis can be an expensive disorder.

[U]Here is the dilemma: to keep insurance or live off of the public dollar?


Below is a graph from, people I know, showing the average annual cost for all MS-related medications and treatments:
Blue Line on Graph = 25 of the people with MS who have health insurance.
Red Line on Graph = 12 people with MS who do not have insurance and are below the legal poverty level (on paper).

Note that these are REAL NUMBERS and these data are based on three years of payments by each of the individuals evaluated, including me.

If you get hit by a bus, then your insurance will be a huge help, and it can prevent financial devestation to the family. However, this is not an issue if (on paper) you have nothing in terms of assets.

So, the question is this: Do you keep the insurance because of ethical reasons (i.e. you do not warrant public assistance), or do you dump the insurance and live off of the public dollar even though you can make the payments since it makes obvious financial sense?

This has been an on-going topic of discussioin amongst the 37 of us who have participated in the assessment.

FYI - We have not drawn any conclusions yet.

I thought that it would be a good topic for discussion here.

-Vic