Pre Budget Submission 2017

Pre Budget Submission 2017

Cancer patients are being hammered financially by the prescription charge, the cost of medicine and the €75 in-patient charge, says the Irish Cancer Society in its Pre Budget Submission to Government.

Cancer patients’ reduced income as a result of being out of work combined with the additional out-of-pocket payments associated with having cancer mean that they are struggling to meet the extra charges being heaped on them by the Government.

The charity is calling for:

  • The prescription charge to be abolished.
  • The amount patients have to pay for medicine before they are reimbursed under the Drugs Payment Scheme to be lowered from €144 to €85.
  • The inpatient charge of €75 to be abolished.

The Irish Cancer Society says that this would save cancer patients with medical cards up to €300 a year and those without medical cards, up to €1450 per year.

“The Irish Cancer Society has listened to stories of immense financial hardship from cancer patients around Ireland,” says Donal Buggy, Head of Services and Advocacy. “Our pre-budget submission this year is in response to the financial struggles faced by cancer patients. Recent research commissioned by the Society called the Real Cost of Cancer, shows that Government charges are the final straw for patients, many of whom are already crippled by the impact of a reduced income and increased costs. The research highlights that the financial impact of having cancer is being felt by the entire cancer population, whether they have a medical card or not.”

The Irish Cancer Society has estimated that abolishing the prescription charge would cost €120 million, reducing the Drugs Payment Scheme to €85 a month would cost €64 million and abolishing the in-patient charge of €75 a night would cost €17.7 million.

“We are calling on Government to respond to the desperate financial situation of cancer patients, which is being made worse by the indiscriminate statutory charges being levied on them,” continued Mr. Buggy. “Since 2008, the Government has transferred the cost of being sick from the State to patients. People who are ill are less financially equipped to meet these payments than if they were well. The Irish Cancer Society considers these charges to be an excessive taxation of the sick and we want the Budget to reverse these unreasonable costs.” 

The Real Cost of Cancer research found the average extra spend per month amongst cancer patients surveyed, even those with a medical card or private health insurance, was €862 while those who cannot work, work less or lose income as a result of having cancer face an income drop averaging €1,400 a month, or €16,750 per year.

“We urge the Government to implement the proposals set out in our submission so that the financial burden of a cancer diagnosis is reduced, so that hard-pressed families and individuals can afford to get by, and so that patients no longer have to face every day dilemmas such as choosing between paying for their child’s medication or their own,” concluded Mr. Buggy.

The Irish Cancer Society says its proposals will also benefit non-cancer patients on low incomes and people dealing with high medical costs, along with those who have neither a medical card nor private health insurance coverage.