Medical insurance news - cancer patients rely on charity

Increasing fuel costs are causing medical insurance customers to rely more heavily on charity handouts.

According to figures released by Macmillan Cancer Support, more than £2.5 million was paid out by them to 12,669 cancer patients during 2011, up from £1.4 million to 7,369 in 2006, reports the BBC.

The charity has described the figure as "shocking" and said that it is unfair that sufferers should feel so vulnerable. According to Macmillan, seven out of ten cancer patients under 55 have less income after they have been diagnosed.

Laura Keely, the charity's campaign manager said that worrying about putting the heating on is "an unacceptable reality" for many sufferers.

She added her shock that a century after the formation of Macmillan, "people who are diagnosed with this devastating disease are still relying on charity to help heat their freezing homes".

A recent report from the London School of Economics warned that thousands of people die every year because they are unable to afford to heat their homes.