Medicare's midlife crisis: Catastrophic finances pit doctors against patients

As Maryanne Wood sits on the passenger side of the car, she reaches forward and closes the air conditioning vent.

"I can't have that cold air blowing on my face," she says. "It can trigger serious pain."

Maryanne suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, a condition that causes excruciating pain in the face. At one point it was quite common for people suffering from it to take their own lives, earning the condition the moniker of "suicide disease."

"Winter, with the cold air and cold wind, largely puts me out of commission," Maryanne says. "There are days where you are literally just trying to survive and battle through the pain."

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