World Cancer Day highlights rising cost of care for Alberta patients

Alberta doctors and health-care experts are advocating for government change to address the rising cost of a cancer diagnosis.

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) is advocating for the Alberta government to make impactful changes to address the rising cost of a cancer diagnosis.

Feb. 4 marks World Cancer Day and this year’s theme spotlights the cost of cancer in Canada, including its profound impact on the health and well-being of those living with and beyond the disease.

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Angeline Webb, CCS’ senior manager of advocacy says Alberta patients in particular are often left with an unbearable financial burden when a doctor tells them they have the disease.

“We have released survey data that shows about 76 per cent of Albertans of their working years are struggling and would struggle to save for retirement in the face of a cancer diagnosis because of the substantial out of pocket costs such as coverage or prescription drugs, home care, travel costs and more,” Webb said.

“An average cancer patient pays up to $33,000 or more out of pocket alone in their lifetime.”

That data is according to a recent report on the economic impact of cancer in Canada, developed in collaboration with the CCS advisory committee, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Webb notes the Alberta’s government in particular has a role to play in helping to reduce these costs as she advocates for support programming to reduce travel expenses for cancer patients in rural or remote areas.

She says other reductions could come with improved coverage for drugs and pain medication and improved child protected illness leaves.

“For example, in Alberta, we’re really encouraging the Alberta government to extend a job-protected illness leave to at least 26 weeks.”

“Right now, in Alberta, someone who takes time off work for treatment could lose their job after 16 weeks, and this does not reflect the realities of cancer care. We’re encouraging the government to implement 26 weeks, because that aligns with the federal employment insurance, employment insurers and sickness benefits.”

CCS has since launched a petition to help reduce the cost of cancer which can be found at cancer.ca/costofcancer.

‘Unbearable costs’: Calgary cancer patient

Brooke Kajdy is a 24-year-old Calgary woman who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer while pregnant in June of last year.

Following a biopsy on her hip, she was diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, characterized by cancer that has spread outside the lymphatic system into organs such as the liver or lungs or into the bone marrow.

The only options she was given were to terminate her pregnancy via injection and start full treatment, or to continue the pregnancy.

“It was shocking, I went three months without any answers, so it was very scary and terrifying,” she said.

Thankfully, Kajdy was able to give birth to her now 18-month-old son Theo while still receiving chemotherapy treatments.

She’s been recovering ever since but was floored to learn that the cost of a life-saving drug trial only available in U.S. state of Maryland would be upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It’s been a lot, the costs are unbearable and ridiculous,” Kajdy said.

“We were faced with traveling to Maryland and covering all of that cost, but just in Canada, it’s the things that you don’t even think about like the parking at the hospital, the food, the travel, everything that you have to pay for, including costly injections.”

Kajdy pays roughly $2,000 out of pocket for every injection she receives to boost her immune system, which is not covered by insurance.

A GoFundMe Page has since helped her, along with her husband Gabe, by raising more than $100,000 to support them through cancer treatment.

Kajdy is still receiving scans locally in Calgary and future treatment options could take place in Maryland depending on how she reacts to her upcoming immunotherapy, but the expenses keep adding up.

“I would really just love if the government could just widen the qualifications to get supports and I know that there are a few grants out there, but you have to fit into this tiny bracket.

“If you don’t fit into that bracket, you don’t get the support.”

Province responds to financial burden of rising cancer costs

Matt Jones, Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy, and trade says the health and safety of the province’s workforce it’s a top priority for the provincial government.

“Albertans should feel confident they have the resources they need to properly recover when sick,” Jones said in a statement to CTV News.

“Our government is constantly working with our industry partners and experts to review and revise our sick leave regulations, to best serve Albertans.”

Offering additional background, Jones noted that Alberta’s job protected leave rules provide employees who have worked for 90 days with the same employer to take time away for personal illness or to care for children that are ill.

That includes long-term illness and injury leave which allows employees to take up to 16 weeks due to injury or illness.

Additionally, critical illness leave is available, where employees can take up to 36 weeks to provide care or support to a child under the age of 18 suffering from a critical illness.

These job-protected leaves are the minimum standard in Alberta, and employers and employees can agree to greater benefits, such as longer leave lengths, through an employment contract or collective agreement.

Employers must also consider their obligations under the Alberta Human Rights Act with respect to employees taking time away for work due to illness.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s Health Minister Adriana LaGrange also provided a response to CTV News.

“Alberta’s government recognizes the importance of access to necessary medications for cancer patients, and we remain committed to ensuring that individuals receive the care they need throughout their treatment journey,” LaGrange said in a statement,

“We sympathize with patients and families living with a cancer diagnosis, which is we’re continually expanding coverage as medications and other treatments advance. Alberta’s cancer coverage and benefits are among the best in the country, and we remain dedicated to enhancing them as advancements in medications and treatments emerge.

“At the same time, as Cancer Care Services (CCS) points out, we recognize that cancer and other health conditions can impose costs that are beyond the scope of the health system anywhere in Canada.”

LaGrange says travel times are also a challenge for patients outside major centres and those concerns are being addressed by providing treatment in regional centres in Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, as well as a range of supportive services for patients in 11 other community cancer centres from Fort McMurray to High River.

The province also announced $1.5 million to expand Wellspring’s community-based supports for cancer patients in rural Alberta.

“Our government remains dedicated to making the necessary investments to support cancer patients and ensure they have access to the best possible care,” LaGrange added.

‘More funds needed for detection and prevention’

Suad Ismail is a Calgary woman who was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma in the year 2001 when she was just 13 years old.

The rare bone cancer is the same one diagnosed to Terry Fox.

Thankfully doctors were able to salvage Ismail’s leg, but the cost of cancer care afterwards was devastating to her family.

“My parents were immigrants to this country from Somalia. This is something none of us were familiar with,” she said.

“It was very expensive for my family thousands upon thousands of dollars, and it was tough because we grew up low income. Almost 23 years later now and these costs still exist.”

Ismail received cancer treatment for 11 months, which included 21 rounds of high dose chemotherapy and thankfully went into remission.

She’s now an accomplished social worker, a well-established motivational speaker and volunteer with the Terry Fox Foundation.

Ismaail shares her story with others as a way of providing hope and inspiration, but says more funding is needed to stop cancer in its tracks.

“We are calling upon the government to put more funds towards detection and prevention, to that’s another area as well where we can prevent this issue upstream,” she said.

“Education is also important. Cancer is a very sophisticated disease, and it requires a lot to detect it, to treat it, and to prevent it. At the time, my parents and my siblings really had to educate ourselves on the illness, but I felt it was also put upon us to educate our community with a lot of questions that they had as well.”

Friends of Medicare calls on government

Friends of Medicare, a non-profit group focussed on strengthening public health care, is calling on the Alberta government to publicly share more information on plans for the continued operations of the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

The new centre began taking appointments in October of last year, but concerns are still mounting that the public has yet to be provided a plan for full operations at the new facility.

This new facility has the potential to be a ground-breaking cancer centre and, at 186,000 square metres, stands to become the largest health centre of its kind in Canada,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.

“But unfortunately for Albertans, that’s not what the government has announced as their plan. We still haven’t been provided details for how this facility will become fully operational as the world-class cancer centre it could and should be.”

In October, the Calgary Chapter of Friends of Medicare wrote a letter to the Minister of Health with a series of questions about the government’s future plans for the new cancer centre, including what specific equipment will outfit the new centre, but Gallaway says those questions remain unanswered.

“Our Calgary Chapter wrote to the minister back in October, and the only response received was the initial government news release from the opening of the facility, with no acknowledgement of the other questions about plans or timelines for the centre,” said Gallaway.

“As concerns continue to grow over long wait times and lack of capacity impacting Albertans’ access to the cancer care they need when they need it, transparency about what is happening at the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre would go a long way to creating more certainty for cancer patients and their loved ones.”

Gallaway adds that the new facility is seven times the size of the former Tom Baker Cancer Centre and will require more staff given that oncology referrals in the province continue to rise.

He notes that allocated funding in the upcoming provincial budget will need to address these issues.

“With Budget 2025 around the corner, the provincial government should announce a plan, along with appropriate funding, to get the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre fully staffed and operational as soon as possible,” concluded Gallaway.