This Can't Be Good

There's no public or private health insurance plan in the country that could afford to pay for all of the latest cancer drugs, Ontario's health minister said Wednesday amid criticism from patients paying for expensive drugs not covered by the province.

Not covered by the taxpayer funded plan.

Not covered by private insurance.

Bummer.

``In a world where there will be a new product available every day which sometimes is offering very, very modest enhancements to life, measured sometimes in days it's going to be very, very challenging for any insurance system, public or otherwise, to be in a position to buy every product that is out there, he said.

Maybe the folks pushing for Medicare for All here should take note.

The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada says many patients have complained that they were forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars for drugs recommended by their doctors that are not covered by the provincial health insurance plan.

Not covered by the Provincial Health Plan. What happened? The tax machine run dry?

``I must say I was stunned at the prospect of a $32,000 personal expenditure for an approved drug to be administered in a hospital, said Roman Gawur, 57, of Toronto, who was diagnosed with colon cancer last October.

``I guess this health card was not really all that good after all. What I really needed was my Visa card.

That's one heckuva line of credit. Sounds more like a second mortgage to me.

I wonder how many will migrate south, looking for jobs with benefits to cover their medical needs?