Some cancer patients may forgo care due to high treatment-related costs: report – CTV
Dec. 9, 2024
Since Natalie Lipschultz was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer in 2019, she estimates the illness has cost her more than $20,000 in out-of-pocket expenses.
Several months after her diagnosis, the Burnaby, B.C., resident was terminated from her job at an insurance company without cause while undergoing chemotherapy in January 2020. She agreed not to pursue legal action in exchange for her health benefits and severance.
Lipschultz, who was 34 at the time, had tried to balance work and treatment, answering emails on her laptop during chemotherapy.
Looking back, she wishes she had focused more on her body.
“The health-care system failed me, my work at the time failed me, and I’m gonna get a little emotional, but I think I failed myself a little bit too,” she says.
