Financial Information Forum - we want your questions

Can you imagine the ' men in suits' who make decisions about subsidies for Lymphoedema support garments being handed one and being told:
'Wear that.'
'For how long?
Forever
What happens when it's dirty?
Keep wearing it
But I want to go to the gym, it will stink
Yes
I want a spare
Sure, a months wages and you can have one
That's not fair. And it doesn't fit properly
Too bad.
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I agree @Irb-03 I too have lymphedema but am lucky to get mine through the public health, however they keep trying to kick me out, but I am persistent. I need custom made and they are $500 each. 

I would love to see BCNA do more of these forums as webinars, similar to what NSW Cancer Council does. They would then be much more accessibe to a great many more people. 

In terms of funding, I'd be interested in hearing about any moves to more standardised subsidies for compression garments across the country. I'm not elligible for any assistane from the govrnment where I live , but some assistance is available if you fit the criteria. There are places with no subsidies at all. Lymphoedema treatment and management is my biggest post treatment cost, and it's never going to end. I'm "lucky" in that my private health insurance covers 60% of the cost of 2 garments per year,  so the rebate on a glove almost pays for a sleeve. If i end up needing more than 2 sets in a year, it's all out of pocket

Great to see this being addressed. One of my expenses (and there were many others) was the cost of traveling for treatment. At the time we got $30 a night towards accommodation and we had to pay all of the first 4 nights. It was a ridiculous amount towards what we had to pay. 

Hi all,
We are trialing this one in Melbourne  (thanks to funding by a supporter) but depending on outcomes of this forum will look at other opportunities. We will also upload an overview of this forum.
We are very happy to take your questions and pose them at the forum so start posting your ideas here. Please keep them more general rather than specific. 

Great job!  I hope it goes well for you and is the first of many :) 

That sounds great @Marianne_BCNA but no good to me as I'm in Qld, and no way I could afford to go down there for that unfortunately and like @Afraser said it would be good to get access to the info discussed or a webinar so we could all watch it later perhaps?? And also maybe you could ask questions on behalf of BCNA members at the forum?? Maybe you could start a post about it or we could PM you?? As you know I've been writing and advocating for changes to the "system" since I was diagnosed. Might be an idea to throw in someone from Medicare also especially regarding the upfront costs for prosthetics etc. Margie 

Good initiative - depending on outcomes I hope you can hold these elsewhere. Perhaps some of the materials can be available online after the event?  Regards

That's great..... if you're in Melbourne