All.Can Patient Survey

54 4 | The financial impact of cancer A prior diagnosis of cancer created lifelong financial insecurity for some respondents. In addition to the cost burden of cancer itself, respondents sometimes commented that having had cancer had a long-term impact on their ability to get a mortgage or affordable insurance – and many worried about their future financial security as a result. What we know In France, research found that disclosure of a childhood cancer was associated with difficulties in obtaining insurance and loans later in life. 76 As a result of these findings, France put into place in 2016 the first anti-discrimination laws to relieve cancer survivors of having to disclose their history of cancer to insurers, as long as it had been at least five years since the end of their active treatment. These laws – called ‘The right to be forgotten’ (Le Droit à l’Oubli) – are now also being implemented in Belgium. ‘It’s impossible to get a bank loan, however necessary at this moment... One is punished for being ill, and it all comes down to luck. In my case, I had never neglected my health.’ Respondent from Belgium ‘Cannot get a new mortgage insurance, new travel insurance or new life insurance. We have become outcasts in the eyes of insurance companies.’ Respondent from Canada