You should talk to your doctors about the likely cost of medical tests and treatments. The cost of treatments for cancer will depend on whether a person:

• is treated in the public or private system
• is working and has to take time off
• lives in a rural area and needs to travel for treatment
• has private health insurance.

Talk to a social worker or welfare worker about what financial and practical support services are available (a member of your healthcare team can tell you how to access a social worker or welfare worker). Talk to your local Medicare office about the ‘safety net’ on costs of medications and medical bills.

Listed below are some questions that might be useful to ask a health fund about treatment costs during treatment for cancer:

• Which treatments are covered by my insurance?
• Which treatments are not covered by my insurance?
• If I claim for a particular treatment now, does that affect what treatments I can claim for later?
• What’s the gap between the cost of treatment and the private medical insurance rebate?