For the many Canadians who don’t live in major urban centres, access to blood cancer treatment can be expensive and time-consuming. These individuals must pay for transportation to treatment far from home, as well as overnight accommodations, parking, and meals for longer stays, such as for stem cell transplant.
Additionally, these cancer patients may face employment limitations, fixed incomes, or other financial hardships – due to their cancer or otherwise.
Almost 90% of referring healthcare professionals said their patients missed appointments or stopped treatment due to distance from medical care – in our fall 2023 survey on the One Kilometre at a Time program.
This is a problem we can help mitigate. Your patients with acute or chronic blood cancer, who have an 80-kilometre or longer round trip to access cancer treatment, may be eligible for our transportation subsidy.
Referred patients receive a one-time $300 pre-paid Visa card from LLSC to help cover costs related to medical travel, including:
Gasoline
Parking at cancer centres
Meals on the road
Bus, train, plane, taxi or Uber
Hotel rooms needed during longer treatments
Eligibility criteria for your patient:
Reside in Canada
Are 18 years old or older
Experiencing financial hardship*
Required to travel 30 km or more roundtrip to access treatment at a recognized cancer centre.
Diagnosed with an acute blood cancer within the last 60 days or relapsed within the last 60 days; or treatment protocol for their blood cancer that includes CAR T cell therapy, or a transplant and they have a confirmed treatment date**
Or, have a chronic blood cancer and an appropriate treatment schedule**
Proof of a patient treatment schedule of 4 medical appointments within the next 90 days related to a blood cancer diagnosis at a recognized cancer treatment facility.
*Financial hardship, for the purpose of this program, is deemed as:
- Experiencing a significant reduction in household monthly income due to job loss, inability to work, or moving to short-term or long-term disability due to cancer diagnosis or treatment protocol.
- An individual living on a lower income who cannot afford to travel to treatment without financial assistance.
**Documentation now required in your referring application:
- NEW: All applications – whether for acute or chronic blood cancer – will require proof of a patient treatment schedule of 4 medical appointments within the next 90 days related to a blood cancer diagnosis at a recognized cancer treatment facility.
- A declaration statement checked off that the individual is experiencing financial hardship.
One Kilometre at a Time is a limited program in high demand; almost 1,000 Canadians receive the one-time $300 travel subsidy in a calendar year. LLSC allocates the funds on a month-by-month basis, fairly representing the population sizes of every province and territory.
As a non-profit organization, we rely on the generosity of our partners. Program continuation is dependent on the availability of funds and the programs could be modified or discontinued at any time if funding is limited or no longer available.
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