Irish Cancer Society says Budget is an opportunity to ease financial pressure on cancer patients
The massive financial pressures being experienced by many cancer patients could be eased in the Budget if the Government uses it to drop the charges imposed on patients since 2008, says the Irish Cancer Society.
A report published last week by the Society highlighted the huge extra expenses cancer patients and their families are forced to pay during their illness. Since the recession, these expenses have grown because Government has shifted costs from the State to patients.
“Cancer patients have been particularly hard hit by charges and costs introduced during the course of the recession,” says Kathleen O’Meara, Head of Advocacy and Communications at the Irish Cancer Society. “The introduction of the prescription charge, increasing the threshold under the Drugs Payment Scheme, abolishing the allowance for wigs and pursuing patients for their inpatient charge of €75 a day, have all added to the huge financial burden on cancer patients.
An Irish Cancer Society report called the Real Cost of Cancer has revealed the average costs per month for cancer patients to be €862. We are calling on Government to use Budget 2016 to reverse the policies that are causing financial distress to cancer patients and their families.”
The Irish Cancer Society says that now that the economy has improved, cancer patients can’t be asked to continue bearing this extraordinary financial burden and is calling for the Government to use Budget 2016 to change polices that are causing cancer patients financial hardship.
The Irish Cancer Society is calling for:
• A reduction in the Drug Payment Scheme threshold from €144 (2015 level) to €85 (2007 level) . Therefore, no individual or family unit would pay more than €85 per calendar month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines;
• Complete abolition of the prescription charge introduced in Budget 2010 (it was 50c per item when first introduced and is now €2.50 per item);
• A waiver of all inpatient and A&E hospital charges for someone going through cancer treatment (these are €75 a day up to a maximum of €750 per calendar year which means that if someone’s treatment runs into the next year, their charges are assessed from €0 again, even though they might have paid a substantial amount in admission charges the previous year. In November 2014, it was reported in the Irish Times that the hospitals had been asked to pursue all non-payers of this fee ‘more actively’.);
The Irish Cancer Society says that it is concerned that the Government may not allocate the increased resources available to them, to those who are suffering most.
“Since 2008, the Government has not only shifted the burden of out-of-pocket payments from the State to patients, it has also increased the costs themselves,” said Ms. O’Meara. “The Irish Cancer Society is asking that those who have felt these changes most acutely, are acknowledged by introducing measures in Budget 2016 that would immediately reduce their out-of-pocket payments.”
The Real Cost of Cancer report also highlighted that cancer patients who are in work, are experiencing an average income loss of €1,400 per month, alongside the out-of-pocket payments of €862 per month.
