TORONTO — Out-of-pocket expenses for diabetics vary widely across Canada, depending on where they live and whether they have private health-care insurance, the Canadian Diabetes Association said in a report Wednesday.

In releasing its Diabetes Report 2005, the organization called for a catastrophic drug plan to be established to help with the cost of medication, supplies and medical devices.

"A national plan means that Canadians with diabetes - regardless of where they live - can afford the life-sustaining therapies they need to live healthier lives," Dr. Karen Philp, national director of public policy and government relations for the association, said in a statement.

The report included a couple of case studies to determine the costs that someone would face in each territory and province. For example, a 22-year-old woman with Type 1 diabetes and no private insurance would have to fork out a high of $3,639.33 if she lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, and more than $3,000 a year in any of the other Atlantic provinces. In Alberta, her costs would be $2,359.34; in Saskatchewan, $1,451.04, and more than $900 in Quebec and Ontario.

In the Northwest Territories, the amount would be $550; in B.C., the figure was $395.85. A Manitoban would pay $336.40 and a Yukon resident $250.

If the composite character - the association calls her Janet - lived in Nunavut, her costs would be zero.

There's no coverage for insulin or syringes for a low-income person such as Janet in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, the report said. If she were on social assistance, she would have coverage in any province or territory.

The association proposes "a catastrophic drug plan that would have Canadians with diabetes spending no more than three per cent of their adjusted family income for medications, supplies and devices."

More than two million Canadians have diabetes.

An online survey of association and Diabete Quebec members found that more than half of respondents said they pay personally for diabetes medications and supplies. Almost one quarter of association members said there were drugs and items that their doctors recommended, but that they couldn't afford to buy, and couldn't access through their insurance plan.

The association argues that all Canadians would benefit from a national plan because there would be fewer long-term diabetes-related complications requiring treatment by the health-care system. These complications include heart and kidney disease, blindness and limb amputation.