Make Medications Accessible

Medications have transformed the lives of people with relapsing remitting MS. Yet, the Atlas of MS shows us that all over the world people cannot access the medicine they need.

In the USA escalating prices have created a huge barrier to treatment, causing higher costs and increased stress for individuals and families. People living with MS in America have reported:

• High and rapidly escalating medication prices
• Increasing out-of-pocket costs
• Confusing and inconsistent lists of medications covered by insurance
• Complex approval processes that stand in the way of getting treatments

The National MS Society’s “Make Medications Accessible” initiative brings together people with MS, pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers, pharmacies, healthcare providers, and policy makers. None of these groups can find the answers on their own so the National MS Society will rally them to work together and focus on getting people with MS the medications they need to live their best lives.

The society has made recommendations which fit into three categories:

Affordable
Innovation in treatments must continue to change lives. But people need to be able to get treatments in a timely and affordable way to benefit from them.

Simple
Getting your medication shouldn’t feel like a full-time job

Transparent
People with MS need more information to make informed choices; and we all need greater information to improve the system.

You can read these recommendations (and the research behind them) in detail on the National MS Society website.

Individuals can get involved by asking their political candidates to sign a pledge to work on this campaign.

This work reflects a priority area in our new strategy (launching in 2017), and is complimented by a recent editorial in The Lancet and a report from a High-Level Panel convened to advise the UN Secretary-General on improving access to medicines.

Photo by Jason Parks https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonlparks/