Hello, I’m Lisa McRipley – a multiple sclerosis (MS) Activist, District Activist Leader, and former member of the Society’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Black MS Community Engagement Advisory Committee, and the Michigan Chapter Board of Trustees. 

I pursued a career in Higher Education Administration to help all students have a sense of belonging at their institutions and encourage them to use their voices for the betterment of others. I just earned my dream job at UC Berkeley in 2007 when I had my first MS symptoms.  Then I had a severe MS relapse in 2013, where I was hospitalized for a month.

Following that difficult relapse, my neurologist instructed me to return to Michigan to be closer to my family. Thus, I went from MOTOWN to OAKTOWN… and BACK and grieved my former self’s loss. Additionally, as I was now on total disability, I worried about how I would pay for my healthcare. In the first month, I accessed my former employer’s healthcare via COBRA and paid over $800. Although I was grateful to have access to my previous healthcare, again, I was and still am living on a fixed income and could never afford to pay $800 a month to live.

The following month – January 2014 – the Affordable Care Act was available, and I excitedly enrolled! I could pay $200 a month for life-saving healthcare and save $600 a month for my life! Since then, I have decided to share my story and speak with legislators about the problems high prescription drugs pose to the American people. 

I was quite nervous, but I recalled that one of my heroes, Audre Lorde, once said…

“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent we are still afraid, so it’s better to speak.”

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-Presidential Candidate Joe Biden campaigned to lower the cost of prescription drugs. After the election of President Joe Biden, he and Democratic Party leaders immediately worked to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. I was incredibly hopeful for the passage of this bill because of the potential financial relief for people on Medicare, like me. MS is a costly disease, with disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that help slow the progression of the disease, costing between $70,000 – and $120,000 annually. Pharmaceutical companies offer financial assistance for their DMTs, but not everyone qualifies. Also, while there are over 20 DMTs available, there still is no cure. Therefore, people living with MS have medications to treat their symptoms, including severe fatigue, mobility challenges, numbness, and, for me, falling. Fortunately, I received financial assistance for my DMT this year. However, the costs of the prescription medication to treat my symptoms add up to several thousand dollars a year, and living on a fixed income, I can’t afford it. My parents and siblings help pay for my groceries and meals to supplement my ability to pay for my medication. I am grateful for that and for them, but I was hopeful the Inflation Reduction Act would make a difference.

Since its passage, I can see the light at the other end of the tunnel! The Inflation Reduction Act has a hard limit on out-of-pocket drug expenses, which began this year, and next year, I will pay no more than $2,000 a year for those costs! In 2023, my out-of-pocket cap was $7600, and my 2024 cap is $8,000. I will save a minimum of $6,000! Now, $6,000 may not seem like much to many people, but to me, it’s hope and hope … is priceless!