Health Care Cost for Multiple Sclerosis: The Case of a Health Insurer in Colombia

Background: There have been many studies on the cost of multiple sclerosis in countries with high prevalence, whereas in Latin America such analyses are few. Taking into consideration the burden of this disease and the high financial impact of treatment on the health care system, it is necessary to know the behavior of cost of illness.

Objectives: To describe the direct costs associated with health care in patients with multiple sclerosis affiliated with a health insurer in Colombia.

Methods: An analysis of direct costs of disease was performed from the perspective of the third-party payer. A direct measurement from the technical costing "top-down" approach was used. Data were adjusted for inflation and expressed in 2014 US dollars.

Results: The average annual cost per patient for the country was $29,339 (2010), $20,956 (2011), $23,892 (2012), $24,148 (2013), and $22,688 (2014). Drug therapy represented 86.1% of the total cost. Between 2010 and 2013, interferons accounted for the largest proportion of the costs of drug treatment (98.5% to 53%), whereas fingolimod showed an increase and accounted for 47% in 2014.

Conclusions: Medications account for the largest proportion of disease costs, with few variations in the last 5 years; nevertheless, the increase in the use of new pharmaceuticals poses a challenge to maintain the financial balance of health insurance.