The disease\u2019s progression eventually forced me to stop working altogether. My job provided our health insurance coverage, which ended upon my inability to work. Going on Medicare was not enough either, because it only covered 80%\u00a0 of my treatment costs, while the rest fell on us. And because I was under 65 when my MS forced me to stop working, we could not purchase a supplementary Medigap plan that would make up the remaining costs.<\/p>\n

This put us at enormous risk. If I had to be admitted to the hospital for any reason during a 60-day benefit period \u2013 potentially as many as six times per year \u2013 we would have received a $1,600 bill for the first night of each hospital stay.<\/p>\n