Federal Labor's plans to slash out-of-pocket costs for cancer patients will strike a chord with Australians, many of whom have been touched by cancer.
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That's true too for Whitlam MP Stephen Jones whose brother Adam passed away five years ago after a battle with leukaemia.
On Friday Mr Jones, and Cunningham MP Sharon Bird, said Labor's $2.3 million plan would mean millions of free scans and consultations and cheaper medicines for all cancer patients.
"Losing a brother too young, who never saw his son grow up, leads me to hope that within my lifetime there will be a cure for his, and other types of, cancer," Mr Jones said.
"Even five years since Adam passed away, there's treatments available that would have kept him alive.
"We know that between 2011 and 2015, there were more than 1000 households who faced the tragedy of losing a loved one to cancer across the region.
"It's a personal tragedy, let's make sure it's not a financial tragedy as well."
Mr Jones said nearly half of Australian cancer patients paid more than $5000 in out-of-pocket costs over the course of their diagnosis and treatment. More than a quarter of patients paid more than $10,000.
It's a personal tragedy, let's make sure it's not a financial tragedy as well.
- Whitlam MP Stephen Jones
He said Labor's plan included an investment of $600 million towards eliminating out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic imaging, with up to six million free cancer scans funded through Medicare.
Meantime $433 million would fund three million free consultations with medical and radiation oncologists, and surgeons.
And a Federal Labor government would guarantee that every drug recommended by independent experts would be listed on the PBS.
The plan would help stop people putting off, or skipping out on, the medical care they desperately needed because of the associated costs, Mr Jones said.
"Labor's package will ensure that from diagnosis to treatment and ongoing management, Australians will have access to the healthcare they need," he said.
"Because we believe that healthcare should be based on your Medicare card not your credit card."
The plan, announced by Labor leader Bill Shorten in his Budget reply, has been welcomed by groups including Breast Cancer Network Australia and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.
