Information please.

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Hello all, I am looking for information on the Canadian Health Service.

Background; I was at a function at the weekend and someone there told us about a friends granddaughter who lives in Canada and had been diagnosed with "Stage 4" cancer. No other details. They stated that, "As it is Canada the treatment would not be cheap and asked us to donate some money to her.

Not a problem and everyone put something in.

My question is; I thought Canada had a reasonably socialised system where children with cancer would be treated with no problems.

Am I wrong in this? Would you refuse treatment or take someones house etc. for childhood cancer?

Thank you for information.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Coverage for cancer treatment is provided under provincial healthcare systems. If the treatment they are seeking is accepted treatment within their province, then it it should be covered by their provincial health care system. Do you know if they are seeking some type of experimental treatment that hasn't been approved for use?

A good resource on coverage of cancer drugs is available on cancercare.on.ca, it answers

Who pays for cancer drugs

Who decides what drugs are paid for by the provincial drug programs

Why some drugs are covered in other provinces but not in Ontario

Why some drugs are not covered in Ontario even though they have been approved by Health Canada etc

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Unfortunately the only information I have is what I wrote. I do not know type of cancer or where the wee one lives. It felt out of place at the time to question it.

I don't believe there is anything fishy going on and absolutely think it is someone trying to do a good turn for a sick child.

I always felt Canadian health care was a bit more 'civilised' than American health care but just wanted some information from someone there.

Again thank you for your reply.

[notanumber]

Medical treatment is fairly well covered, but many families still struggle with expenses indirectly tied to it - time off work, temporary housing near facilities, childcare, travel, everyday expenses going unpaid because of loss of income, etc. And unless you are at the lowest income bracket, you still have to pay *some* - most working people have extended health coverage to help with that, but if your medication costs 10k or more a month, paying even a small part of that can be difficult for low-middle income families. There's always a way. The government handles most of the load - insurance, charities, and community support help with the rest.

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Hi all,First off thank you for the replies - just what I needed.

Now, a quick update.

Would you believe that after all this stuff about the child being in Canada it turns out that she is actually only 20 mile away from here and is being treated in one of the main children's hospital.

Apparently the Canada thing came from one of her relatives has died in Canada (an adult) so not sure why there was confusion.

I still don't think there was anything dodgy or underhand about the request for money but I wish they had got it right and said "look the family are struggling with expenses can you give a little to help them?"