Medical card must include full financial costs of cancer – Naughten

In Health by Denis Naughten

Denis-Naughten-medical-card-centre-150x150Cancer patients inundated with requests for paperwork

The fact that cancer sufferers face an additional €10,000 in costs associated with the disease must be taken into consideration by the Medical Card section of the HSE, claims Denis Naughten TD.

A study, led by the National Cancer Registry, has shown that three quarters of those with breast or lung cancer had direct out of pocket medical expenses averaging €1,491. The study also shows that 90% of cancer sufferers had other cancer related costs of up to €7,559, with 60% pointing out that other household bills also went up.

At present, a person diagnosed with cancer must verify these expenses to have them considered as part of their medical card assessment, but in many cases these expenses only arise during the treatment itself.

“Everytime I have a person diagnosed with cancer contact me about a medical card, I sympathise with them about the battle which they then face, to secure a medical card,” stated Denis Naughten

“For many diagnosed with cancer, they are of the belief that the HSE deliberately seeks additional information in the hope that the applicant is too sick to respond and will instead just throw in the towel.

“What is frustrating is the fact that there seems to be a lack of understanding of just how sick someone can get when they are on treatment for cancer. Instead we have the medical card section seeking information which we are told is accessible to them via the Revenue Commissioners and Social Welfare.

“In light of the significant step forward by Minister Varadkar recently in giving all children with cancer a medical card, I’m asking him to now do the same for adults diagnosed with cancer.

“If this is not possible in the short term, at a very minimum the Minister must ensure that the Medical Card section takes the additional costs of cancer, averaging at €10,000, into account when assessing someone for a medical card,” concluded Denis Naughten.