Medical technologists preparing sections of biopsy samples at the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Toronto General Hospital.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
A large number of Canadians now fear the financial repercussions of a cancer diagnosis as much as the health consequences, a new survey reveals.
The poll, commissioned by the Canadian Cancer Society shows that only one-third of citizens believe the health-care system would provide them with affordable treatment if they were cancer-stricken.
Given the soaring cost of drugs and the spotty coverage afforded by drug plans around the country, they are right to worry, says Aaron Levo, assistant director of public issues at the CCS.
"It is not acceptable that cancer patients should worry about how they are going to pay for the drugs they need," he said.
Mr. Levo said universal access to medically-necessary health care, the cornerstone of Canada's medicare system, is being undermined by the fact that a growing number of patients have to pay for essential cancer drugs out-of-pocket.
Worse yet, he said, there are significant disparities in drug coverage between provinces, creating further inequities.
"The Society is alarmed and frustrated that the federal government seems to be ignoring this critical health issue for Canadians," Mr. Levo said.
The CCS commissioned the poll as part of its push for a national catastrophic drug insurance program. Another group, the Coalition to Control Cancer, has a similar campaign but it believes the provinces and territories are largely to blame.
In September 2008, provincial and territorial governments issued a public statement saying they held a "common view that catastrophic drug coverage is as essential to Canadians as physician and hospital coverage" before adding that "federal government has a funding responsibility to establish a minimum standard of drug coverage for all Canadians."
In other words, they have not acted because they are waiting for Ottawa to pony up.
A catastrophic drug plan would not cover all drugs costs, but would kick in:
a) only of a patient requires very expensive drugs like those used to treat cancer or
b) after a person spent more than 3 per cent of their annual net income on prescription drugs.
The new poll shows that 70 per cent of respondents support a federally-funded catastrophic drug program based on income; that number increases slightly to 74 per cent in support a national catastrophic drug insurance plan that would pay the full cost of select drugs.
Mr. Levo said the message in the poll is that "Canadians clearly support establishing a national program to help them pay for cancer drugs but, unfortunately, they are losing confidence in Canada's health-care system to fix it."
Cancer drugs taken outside the hospital - and hence not automatically covered by medicare - cost about $20,000 for a course of treatment. For newer drugs, the cost exceeds $65,000.
An estimated 173,800 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Canada in 2010, according to projections from the Canadian Cancer Society. At least 76,200 Canadians will die of cancer this year.
André Picard