Private insurance in Canada

Diana,

I quit my job around the time that I was diagnosed.  I spent a lot of time investigating insurance options and trying to decide whether or not to buy supplemental insurance.  In the end, I decided not to.  What concerned me was that all the insurance options I looked at had a cap on drug costs, unless the premium was very expensive.  I figured that most of what I would need in terms of medical care would be covered by OHIP except, of course, drug costs.  But if my insurance would cap the coverage of drug costs, what would be the point of getting the insurance?  And, most importantly, I found out through PMH about the Ontario Trillium program.  This is a drug benefit program that's available to anyone in Ontario who has OHIP coverage.  There is a deductible based on income level and family size, but if you have a low income, the deductible may be as low as $500 a year ($125 each quarter).  And even if you have a higher income, if you require a really expensive drug, the program might still be a help - in the scheme of things, a $10,000 deductible may not be that bad if you need $40,000 in drugs.  All drugs that are on the Ontario formulary are covered by this program.  Xeloda is on the formulary. 

Here is information about the Trillium Program:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/drugs/trillium.html

http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/AttachDocsPublish/014-S46850E-87~15/$File/TrilliumBookE.pdf

Hope that helps!