It’s no secret that Prince Edward Island has some of the worst coverage for cancer drugs in the country. For those cancer drugs that DO make it to the PEI provincial drug formulary, the province still has two very different mechanisms for cancer drug funding:
- If it is an intravenous (IV) drug that needs to be administered in a hospital setting, it will be funded by the provincial government 100%.
- However, if it is something taken outside of hospital (oral or injectable), the patient must cover the drug under public or private insurance and pay deductibles.
This is unlike many other provinces in Canada where approved cancer drugs are funded 100% regardless of how the patient takes the drug.
Facts: How much do patients and their families pay in PEI?
For intravenous drugs listed on the provincial formulary, patients pay $0.
However, take-home cancer drugs including oral cancer drugs and take-home injectables require a significant out-of-pocket payment (deductible) that is based upon family income.
For a family with a combined family income of $120,000 ($85,000 Net combined income), the Family Deductible under PEI’s Catastrophic Drug Program would be $14,400 per year (calculated as 12% of gross household incomes over $100,000).
For details on what PEI’s Catastrophic Drug Program could mean for your family, click here.
What can you do?
- Learn more: watch the video, familiarize yourself with the issues on this website.
- Write, call, or visit your MLA to let them know that this arbitrary discrimination in how cancer drugs are funded needs to end. Many are completely unaware that the province treats intravenous and take-home cancer drugs so differently.
- Write to your provincial Health Minister.
- For a list of provincial MLAs in PEI, click here: http://assembly.pe.ca/index.php3?number=1024555&lang=E
- For contact information for your Health Minister, click here: http://assembly.pe.ca/index.php3?number=1028682
If you need any help, please contact: [email protected] and one of our patient advocate volunteers will get back to you.
Please share with us any response you receive. We will be meeting with provincial representatives as we go forward with this campaign. And on behalf of all cancer patients who need this issue solved, THANK YOU.