Breast cancer survivor Debbie Swain shocked by hidden scan costs

A Brisbane woman who “just wants to stay alive” after surviving breast cancer says she is being billed nearly $400 a year for a supposedly free state-run screening program.

Breast cancer survivor Debbie Swain.

Wellington Point woman Debbie Swain overcame breast cancer but what she hasn’t been able to overcome is the painful, hefty price tag that came with survival.

The 68-year-old finished a gruelling year of treatment in 2022 with surgery, radiation and specialist visits and rang the brass bell at Mater Redlands to mark the end of her cancer fight.

But the battle wasn’t over.

Since then she’s faced the new struggle of paying hundreds of dollars every year for scans that she, like most Queensland women over 40, assumed would be free.

“They tell you mammograms are free in Queensland once you’re over 40 but what they don’t tell you is that you have to pay if you’ve had cancer,” Mrs Swain said.

“I fought to stay alive, and now I’m being punished with bills just to check if the cancer is coming back.”

Each year, she needs a mammogram and ultrasound, the same tests that caught her cancer early.

Now, because she’s a survivor, she’s locked out of the free state-run BreastScreen Queensland program and instead, she’s billed $390.50 annually, even with a concession card.

Cancer survivor Redland’s Debbie Swain says annual mammograms should be free to breast cancer survivors like they are for all women over 40. Picture: Contributed

Mrs Swain isn’t alone with more than 17,000 Queensland women in the same position of being shut-out of the system designed to catch cancer early because they have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years.

Many don’t even realise they’re ineligible for free scans until they get the bill.

Queensland Health confirmed BreastScreen is only available to women with no symptoms and no history of breast cancer.

Survivors fall under “diagnostic imaging” and are excluded from the program for five years unless they are referred through a public hospital specialist.

“We recognise that some women who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer within the previous five years will actively seek to participate,” Queensland Health said.

“A BSQ nurse counsellor or medical officer will engage with women … If a woman commences or resumes in the BSQ program, annual rescreening will be recommended.

“If clinical examination and surveillance ultrasound is indicated, the woman will be advised that this is not provided within the BSQ program.”

Because Mrs Swain sees a private specialist and uses local imaging clinics, her scans aren’t free.

“Three years now, I’ve paid for both the mammogram and ultrasound,” she said.

“Last time, I got a bill for $200.55 for the ultrasound, and another $189.95 for the mammogram and that’s with a discount.

“The mammogram that found my cancer was free but now that I’ve had cancer, they say I can’t have a free one anymore. How does that work?

“I just want to stay alive, and I’m being charged for it.”

Queensland Health said survivors could access free imaging through the public system but recognised many were forced to foot the bill using private providers.

Mrs Swain said it was not just scans that survivors were paying for.

The brass bell for cancer survivors to ring that Debbie Swain donated to the Redland Hospital after completing her own breast cancer treatment. Picture: Contributed

Oncologists, surgeons, and follow-ups all come with costs that can deter some women from vital check-ups.

“There are women out there skipping checks because they don’t have the money — and that’s dangerous,” Mrs Swain said. “That’s how things are missed.”

After finishing treatment, she donated a brass bell to her local hospital so other women could ring it in hope.

Now, she said that bell toll feels bittersweet.

“When you finish treatment, they tell you the worst is over — but it’s not,” she said.

“There’s this hidden five-year system and no one warns you it’s going to cost so much just to keep watching your back.”

Her message to the government is clear: “Don’t punish survivors. Make the scans free for all.”