The ACT Government says it has listened to families struggling with the financial burden of cancer treatment.
Financial relief is on the way for cancer patients in the ACT with the Government announcing that it will scrap the chemotherapy co-payment by the end of the month, at a cost of $1 million a year.
A Government spokesperson said Minister for Health and Wellbeing Meegan Fitzharris had been talking to patients and their families about the financial hardship associated with cancer treatment.
“What we have heard is that at a time when ACT patients should be focused on their treatment, these costs can add an extra layer of burden on them and their families,” the spokesperson said.
Work was under way to have the new arrangements in place by the end of July 2018, when patients would no longer be charged directly.
The spokesperson said the Government acknowledged the advocacy of families who had campaigned for this change on behalf of other cancer patients in the ACT while going through their own personal journeys.
The ACT Government would continue to work with the Commonwealth Government to seek ways to support the affordable provision of chemotherapy drugs to people with cancer in the ACT.
Across the border, the NSW Government has been paying co-payments for Section 100 (s100) injectable and infusible chemotherapy medicines for NSW residents who are patients of NSW public hospitals since 1 October 2015.
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