By the Numbers: The Importance of Planning Today for Tomorrow’s Needs

A few statistics highlight the importance of taking a prudent approach
to anticipating how MS may affect long-term earnings and expenses:

62 percent of working-age people with MS reported that multiple sclerosis had affected their employment. [Marck]

$4,385 is the average monthly cost of a home health aide in 2019. [Genworth]

5 to 14 percent of people with MS eventually will need nursing home care. [Finalyson 2019; Marrie 2014]

64 percent of people with MS reported they do not have long-term disability insurance. [Planchon]

66 percent of people filing for bankruptcy cited medical costs as a direct or indirect reason for their financial problems. [Himmelstein]

$7,513 is the average monthly cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home in 2019. [Genworth]

90 percent of people with MS reported having no long-term care insurance, which helps pay for in-home, community-based, and nursing home care. [Planchon]

19.7 percent of working-age people with MS reported they had retired due to disability. [Marck]


References

Finlayson M, Ekuma O, Finalyson G, Jiang D, Marrie RA. Ten-year trajectories of health care utilization by Manitobans with MS predict nursing home entry. Neurology: Clinical Practice. 2019;9(1):16-23.

Genworth Financial, Inc. Cost of Care Survey 2019. Available at: https://www.genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care.html. Accessed August 31, 2021.

Himmelstein DU, Lawless RM, Thorne D, Foohey P, Woolhandler S. Medical bankruptcy: still common despite the Affordable Care Act. Am J Public Health. 2019;109(3):431-433.

Marck CH, Aitken Z, Simpson Jr S, et al. Predictors of change in employment status and associations with quality of life: a prospective international study of people with multiple sclerosis. J Occup Rehabil. 2020;30:105-114.

Marrie RA. Differences in health care utilization over 10 years between people with MS who entered a nursing home and those who did not. Poster 008. European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) 2014 Meeting, Sept. 10-13, 2014: Boston, MA.

Planchon SM, Cofield SS, Musil CM, et al. Sociodemographic factors associated with insurance acquisition in MS. Poster 295. American Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis 2019 Meeting, February 28-March 2: Dallas, TX.

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