Insurance Saves Lives

As Aplastic Anemia progresses to Severe Aplastic Anemia and then to Very Severe Aplastic Anemia, the patient will ultimately become 'disabled' although only for a period of time in the patient's lifetime.

As the patient's disease progresses, s/he will ultimately become unable to work due to the extreme exhaustion, very high susceptibility to infection, inability to concentrate and remember, and of course, anxiety. The typical patient will experience anxiousness, depression, and changes in blood pressure.

The average cost of a single bone marrow transplant is in excess of $150,000.00, and depending upon the treatments necessary before, during and after the transplant, often rise to the $200,000.00 to $300,000.00 ranges.

Medications necessary before, during and after the treatment are extensive. Typical costs range from $10,000.00 to $50,000.00.

A bone marrow transplant patient remains hospitalized in special facilities to protect their lives during the transplant when their immune systems are completely killed off and for approximately 20-30 days post transplant.

Patients attend clinic and receive blood draws regularly: usually two to three times per week immediately upon release from the hospital and for several months thereafter. Eventually, clinic appointments can be reduced to once to twice per week, and then eventually to once every other week, then monthly, then every three months, then every six months until they reach annual appointments at the four or five year mark.

From the time of release from the hospital until the patient is considered 'cured' of this terrible disease, the patient is on medication on a decreasing schedule. Some of those medications are as inexpensive as $1.00 each; most cost much more.

When a person receives a bone marrow transplant, they are considered temporarily disabled for Social Security purposes on the day of the transplant. They cannot return to work until released by their medical team. That release is subsequent to removal from immunosuppressant drugs.

Complications can increase costs, such as infections or development of Graph-versus-host disease.

Insurance, medical assistance programs, medical research, drug research, stem cell research and our wonderfully brilliant doctors save lives.