Cost of chronic illness in rural and regional Victoria

Having a good income does not protect people with chronic illness from poverty. In fact, going to work and earning an income can severely disadvantage people who have high medication needs by disqualifying them from the financial benefits of a Health Care card. Expecting that distance, isolation and lack of rural medical infrastructure would impact on affordability and accessibility of health services, the Chronic Illness Alliance collected data from rural and regional Victorians on the cost of chronic illness. This article describes how the study was undertaken in regional Victoria, what consumers identified as key issues, and the findings of the project to date.