Over the lifetime of each person,
an average of $11,199 in time costs, $16,018 in
out-of-pocket costs and $5,560 in indirect costs
are expected to be incurred by people with
cancer and their caregivers. In total, and averaged
across all cancer types, an individual is expected
to incur $32,778 in costs related to cancer over
their lifetime.
however the report doesn’t break it down further, or explain exactly what makes up each of those categories, which is disappointing. As others pointed out, it would be nice to know things like:
Out of those “out-of-pocket” costs, how much can be claimed as medical expenses on an income tax return (15% tax credit), and is that factored in to the calculation?
How much is lost wages?
It’s hard to consider ways of reducing these costs (Pharmacare, Welfare, refunds/tax credits for friends/family helping, etc) without knowing the details of these costs.
The article does link to the report from the Canadian Cancer Society. The report says that,
however the report doesn’t break it down further, or explain exactly what makes up each of those categories, which is disappointing. As others pointed out, it would be nice to know things like:
Out of those “out-of-pocket” costs, how much can be claimed as medical expenses on an income tax return (15% tax credit), and is that factored in to the calculation?
How much is lost wages?
It’s hard to consider ways of reducing these costs (Pharmacare, Welfare, refunds/tax credits for friends/family helping, etc) without knowing the details of these costs.