The MS Trust has signed an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for urgent action to support people affected by neurological conditions, ahead of the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan on 31 October.
The letter, developed by The Huntington’s Disease Association, highlights the challenges many people living with neurological conditions like MS are currently facing in relation to the cost of living crisis.
- Urgently uprating benefits to align with inflation so that people with chronic conditions can maintain living costs
- Increasing the levels of Disability Cost of Living Payments
- Extending the Warm Homes Discount to disabled people to safeguard people with neurological conditions from fuel poverty.
The Huntington’s Disease Association state that people with a neurological condition require a weekly minimum of around £200 to cover additional costs due to increased heating bills, specialised equipment, private taxis and higher insurance premiums.
This matches findings from the MS Trust’s Life Changing report earlier this year, where we surveyed over 700 people with MS about the impact of MS on their lives. Just under a third of respondents stated that they experienced increased household costs such as special diets, supplementary medicines and vitamins and house adaptations. However, almost 40% of respondents stated that they had experienced reduced income or lost their income altogether because of the impact of MS on their career. The people who responded to our survey also expressed worries about increasing costs in the future and having trouble making their finances last.
Given these findings, we are supporting this campaign which brings together charity members of the Neurological Alliance. People affected by neurological conditions like MS are disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis, and action is needed to support this community.
