Does your insurance cover infertility treatment?
6 Replies
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Te reason I'm asking is my insurance doesn't cover any infertility treatments, and it's a major source of frustation for me. I haven't had to pay for much yet, because I've just been treated for endometriosis, but I am getting to the point where I would like to see an RE. If your insurance doesn't cover anything, how are those of you who see an RE affording all of the expenses involved? I was also wondering if any of you have written letters to State Reps in your area? My mom & I were talking yesterday & both want to be more proactive about working towards getting infertility treatments paid for by insurance companies, but I don't know where to start...
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Hi MelissaV--I'm in a state that requires some infertility coverage (OH) but my ins. only covers dx testing, surgeries, u/s for each cycle, some bloodwork but no treatments or drugs. I'm lucky to have the coverage that I do though b/c all the u/s RE's require can really add up. DH & I are doing IVF next though & our ins. covers nothing so we'll be doing an IVF package probably. Most RE's offer somekind of package deal that covers the u/s, blood work as well as the actual treatment. Drugs usually aren't included though. My RE does IUI as well as IVF package prices. Any testing might be done at a cheaper rate for you b/c you don't have ins. coverage for it. However, I'd think since you have endo the RE might be able to do some creative coding. As for changing the laws, look at Resolve's website. (www.resolve.org) There's info there on writing your congressman/woman. Etc. Good luck, I think it's great that you & your mom want to get involved in changing the way infertility is looked at. There's room for major improvements.
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Hi I am in northern california and the insurance we have doesn't cover any of it, our ins is up for renwal in Sept I am hoping to find one that covers a percentage, we just did our 3rd IUI and we have spent 1000's already!! so we are hoping to find some coverage for IVF? good luck anyone from CA that knows of ins that is covered please let me know, thanks Cheryl
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Mega---thanks for the resolve website...I had visited it before, but hadn't found all the legislative info they had on the site. There is a "take action" link that EVERYONE of us on this forum should look at. It has sample letters to send to State Reps/Senators & even a form that will send an email to them. After 3 years of infertility, I feel like it's time to take action, and I plan on emailing the links to everyone I know...
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Melissa--You're welcome. I'm glad this time you found the info you wanted/needed on the Resolve site. I'll probably do the same re: sending off the letters to my state rep., while as I said before OH has limited coverage I still feel it's not near the level it should be. It's high time people (IE politicians) realize infertility isn't a choice, it's a "disease." Good luck to you! And you too Cheryl, I hope you find some good IVF coverage soon.
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My insurance covers no infertiltiy. I have Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Florida. I did as much testing as I could through my OB and even took 3 months of clomid with him before moving on to a specialist. The guy I see now bills what he can to insurance as "gynecological" but the stuff that deals directly with infertility, we pay out of pocket for. We were lucky and got a nice chunk of money for our wedding, so have been using that as the baby money. It gets expensive, but I am grateful to have a doc that isn't specifically an RE, but is just as good as one. I think if he had the "Reproductive" title attached to his name, insurance wouldn't cover anything at all. I guess maybe a place to start politically would be to write to the insurance commission, to file a complaint, and then to your state senators and reps to do the same.
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OOPS.....first sentence is supposed to say "infertility".
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