Cancer patients already severely struggling with financial difficulties because of their illness could be hit with "catastrophic" effects if welfare reform proceeds, MacMillan Cancer Support has warned.
Some sufferers even have to miss meals and reduce their spending on essentials such as food, it found. MacMillan fears the current government proposals will see 7,000 patients become £94 a week worse off despite already being on or close to the breadline. As a result it has demanded that the Welfare Reform Bill is amended so everyone eligible for ESA will receive it for as long as they need it, not for an arbitrary fixed period. It also believes it is unacceptable to make cancer patients wait six months to access PIP as costs associated with cancer kick in from the point of diagnos...
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