Travel costs for regional cancer patients are pushing families into massive debt, sparking calls for the government to increase allowances for those requiring treatment in capital cities.
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Naomi Brugger, whose husband Chris suffers from Hodgkin’s disease, a type of blood cancer, said her family have spent tens of thousands on travel and accommodation in Sydney.
“We had to put our mortgage on hold, which was very difficult. We got by thanks to support of the Griffith community.”
But she know many others without support who have slid into financial crisis.
Cancer patients who need to travel for treatment can access the NSW Government’s Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTAAS), but there are questions over the adequacy of payments and speed in which claims are processed.
Patients and their escorts generally receive $60 per night to share accommodation, which doesn’t go far in major cities.
Olga Forner, president of Griffith Can Assist, a charity that provides financial assistance to cancer patients, questions why more IPTASS offices are not located in the regions they service.
“Griffith patients have their claims assessed by the Sydney office. They don’t really understand the travel burden of those in regions, and are not resourced to process claims quickly enough.”
“We have to wait three months to get reimbursed,” Chris said.
“I took my kids, Liam and Tomas to see their Dad in Sydney, who spent three months there for a blood transplant. I had to pay the full travel and accommodation costs,” Naomi said.
The Bruggers also had to pay $16,000 a dose for seven doses of Chris’s Brentuximab treatment. It now costs $40 a dose and is included on the PBS, thanks to the fierce lobbying of the Bruggers and others.
The next battle is get Sydney-based bureaucrats to understand the multiple costs of travel.
An emphasis should be placed on the pressure added to regional families already struggling with illness.
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