$ Question...

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

....for the folks here who've been posting here as patients/potential candidates...

Stargazer...... you're from Nova Scotia yet had to travel and live etc while Lionel awaits a transplant.

Wendy; you live in Colorado and I'm assuming you have Insurance and/or you're on Disability. You're also lucky because you're close to one of the best hospitals for all of this.... National Jewish

Colleen; other than location and hospital (of Wendy's situation) I assume you fall into something simialr.

Toni; you're in Ontario. You have to travel to T.O. but not out of province.

Here in Canada; though we have socialized medicine; each province administers it differently. What might be covered in your OWN province, may not be covered in another and you have to get provincial Govt approval for testing or proceedures outside your province (for coverage)

Transplants and the like are NOT inexpensive.

So....... who and what are you covered for ands is there a time frame?

[toni]

I am very fortunate. I worked for an Ontario Government Company for 30 years when I got sick and had to go on Long Term Disability. It pays me 66% of my gross salary.

I also have a fantastic drug plan which covers 100% of prescription drugs. When I was in Toronto last month for assessment, I was given a three page list of drugs that could possibly be administered to me after transplant. Some of these drugs cost up to $3,000 per month! I sent the list to my carrier asking which drugs were covered and received a response this week. There are only about five drugs on the list which are not covered and those five are OTC drugs which are minimal in cost.

Traveling back and forth to Toronto can be expensive as well, when you factor in the high cost of parking. I have a disabled parking permit which allows me to park for free on the street however, those spots are few and far between. We paid $18 per day for parking which we will claim as a medical expense on our income tax.

We are also allowed to claim mileage as we live more than 40 kms from the hospital. The 2009 amount has not been announced yet but for 2008 it was 55.5 cents per km.

If we had lived more than 80 kms from the hospital we would have been allowed to claim meals (which really makes no sense to me what so ever)

Here is the website from Canada Revenue

www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns248-260/255/rts-eng.html

If I think of anything else...

Toni

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Thanks Toni; you're fortunate indeed. Transplants and surgeries can get pretty hefty.

[wendyco]

I am on ssd which means I qualify for medicare....I don't have a supplement though because I am not yet 65....guess you have to be 65 to be able to purchase the extra supplements offered to go along with your medicare....so they pay 80% and I pay 20% (yikes!)

(could get a private supplement but the cost would be outragous)

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

That could get a little pricey Wendy. Does that mean you're paying 20% on all your testing proceedures/costs?

[stargazer]

If you are from NS the government will pay up to 1,500.00 a month for rent, after you have been in Toronto for 3 months.
We have private insurance which will pay for most drugs (we also got the 3 page list during pre-assessment) but will not cover the more expensive anti-rejection drugs. The NS government pays for these, they must be dispensed from the hospital in Halifax when we get home, so that means a trip to the hospital for refills. This is a small price to pay!
Our assessment expenses we had to handle ourselves but claimed them on income tax along with our moving expenses.
The NB government has just started helping out their people as well although not entirely sure of all the details. NL also has compensation for their people and Ontario recently announced a plan for Ontario residents who have to relocate to Toronto.
When we arrived there was no compensation, we didn't expect any either so when it was announced it was a welcome relief financially as we still have our home in Halifax to look after.