Patients using savings and borrowing to cope with financial impact of cancer
Cancer patients are struggling to make ends meet, suggests a new survey from Macmillan Cancer Support.
The charity's poll of 1,495 cancer patients found that more than two thirds (70%) had been affected financially by their diagnosis, through lost income and rising costs such as those incurred by travelling to hospital.
One in six (17%) of those financially affected said they had had to reduce spending on everyday items such as food, while 7% are scared of losing their home. Nearly a third (29%) of those financially affected have spent all or some of their savings, and nearly one in ten (9%) have borrowed money to cover the additional costs of cancer.
In total, more than two fifths (43%) are anxious as a result of their financial situation.
Macmillan is warning that the financial prospects of cancer patients may be worse under Government reforms. The Welfare Reform Bill, currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords, includes a proposal to limit the payment of employment support allowance (ESA) to one year, for those claimants allocated to the work-related activity group under work capability assessments. After 12 months these claimants will be means-tested and a claimant whose partner works more than 24 hours or earns £149 a week will lose all of their benefit. The charity argues that many people living with cancer will need longer than 12 months in order to return to work.
Under another proposal, cancer patients needing immediate financial help to cover extra costs following their diagnosis will have to wait six months instead of three to get the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
Ciarán Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "Cancer is an expensive disease to live with, but this research shows just how close to the breadline many cancer patients really are. While we understand the benefits system is in need of reform, certain changes in the Welfare Reform Bill could have catastrophic effects on many families who are already struggling. We know many Lords oppose these proposals and hope they support cancer patients as the Bill makes its way through Parliament."
Last year income protection provider Unum reported that claims from employees with cancer were up 44% over the course of the decade, resulting in a growing demand for tailored rehabilitation services. Cancer accounted for 19% of claims in 2009 and two-thirds of these claimants referred after more than six months of absence eventually returned to work.
For free quotation on Income Protection
Monday 24 October 2011
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Older women 'underestimate breast cancer risk'
Risk rises from one in 2,000 at 29 to one in 13 at 69
Elderly women are unaware that they are more at risk of developing breast cancer than younger women, according to a new survey.
Charity Breast Cancer campaign surveyed almost 500 women aged over 70 and found that less than 2% knew that their age group was at the greatest risk of the disease. They mistakenly believed that women aged 40-49 or 50-59 are at most at risk of breast cancer, which causes 12,000 deaths every year.
Increasing age is the biggest risk factor for breast cancer but the research also shows that women aged over 70 are less likely to check their breasts and to attend routine breast screening appointments than younger women. A separate poll of 520 women aged over 70, also conducted by Breast Cancer Campaign, found that only half (53%) were aware that they are not invited but are entitled to request an NHS routine screening appointment, with only 14% attending screening since turning 71.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "We read daily about different risk factors for breast cancer including alcohol and weight. While these are important, age is the most significant risk factor of all and yet women, including those most likely to be affected, remain in the dark about this."
A third of all breast cancer diagnoses in the UK occur in women aged 70 and over and 81% occur in women aged 50 and over. While the risk of developing breast cancer is just one in 2,000 at the age of 29 it rises to one in 13 by the age of 69 and the lifetime risk is one in eight.
Around half of all deaths from breast cancer every year are in women aged 70 and over. Research has also shown that older women are less likely to receive surgery after diagnosis with breast cancer.
For free quotation on Serious Illness Cover
Elderly women are unaware that they are more at risk of developing breast cancer than younger women, according to a new survey.
Charity Breast Cancer campaign surveyed almost 500 women aged over 70 and found that less than 2% knew that their age group was at the greatest risk of the disease. They mistakenly believed that women aged 40-49 or 50-59 are at most at risk of breast cancer, which causes 12,000 deaths every year.
Increasing age is the biggest risk factor for breast cancer but the research also shows that women aged over 70 are less likely to check their breasts and to attend routine breast screening appointments than younger women. A separate poll of 520 women aged over 70, also conducted by Breast Cancer Campaign, found that only half (53%) were aware that they are not invited but are entitled to request an NHS routine screening appointment, with only 14% attending screening since turning 71.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "We read daily about different risk factors for breast cancer including alcohol and weight. While these are important, age is the most significant risk factor of all and yet women, including those most likely to be affected, remain in the dark about this."
A third of all breast cancer diagnoses in the UK occur in women aged 70 and over and 81% occur in women aged 50 and over. While the risk of developing breast cancer is just one in 2,000 at the age of 29 it rises to one in 13 by the age of 69 and the lifetime risk is one in eight.
Around half of all deaths from breast cancer every year are in women aged 70 and over. Research has also shown that older women are less likely to receive surgery after diagnosis with breast cancer.
For free quotation on Serious Illness Cover
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