I wanted to talk about health insurance. Most times it seems to cover too little, cost too much, and is a big big hassle. I do happen to have very good insurance but I think that it will be changing in about a year. But one of the readers mentioned that they were envious that mine included 4 IVF's. I am very fortunate. It didn't really change my circumstances but it did at least put my mind at ease to know that I'm pretty much screwed.
I mention all of this because since I discovered that I was infertile I was very afraid that I would not have any IVF coverage and I would never know if IVF would've worked for me or not. My heart goes out to the many of you who do not have the means or the coverage to allow you to try IVF. That is a whole other Mind F*** all together. I'm not trying to make anyone feel even worse about their situation, but no one ever seems to talk about it. What I've learned from reading other blogs is that there are a lot of wealthy or possibly very in debt people out there. We live in America. IF seems as if it is an epidemic that no one outside of the blog world is acknowledging. It is a sin that insurance does not at least cover one IVF procedure. Every woman needs to know that she has the option to try every thing she needs to to put her weary mind at ease. I often thing that after I've come to terms with my situation and all of my drama is over, I need to start contacting my congressmen/women and get some petitions started on behalf of women's fertility rights. If this were happening to a man I would not be surprised if there were at least some sort of minimal coverage. I once read that going through IF is one of the most stressful things a woman can go through. Depression rates of IF women mirror those of women with depression and heart disease. How do we not have coverage? For IF women, having children becomes a privilege not a choice. Can you or can't you afford the procedures? Are you willing to mortgage your future? It's so wrong. During one of my visits to the clinic I asked the nurse how people are possibly paying for all of these treatments during a recession. She told me that business had not slowed and believed that many parents were contributing towards their child's procedures. So I've started an unofficial poll. Feel free to weigh in!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi thanks for your comment on my blog. I've become a follower of yours and will catch up on your history. I've voted in your poll - up to now we have used both health insurance and savings. The health insurance helped a lot, but we still spent about $5k per IVF cycle even with insurance. Those were for the ones with my own eggs. The DE cycle was much more expensive. Insurance did cover quite a bit, but we still had a lot out of pocket. Insurance is now maxed out so from here on out we are on our own and it will be coming out of savings.
ReplyDeleteHi! I did 6 IVF cycles and THANK GOD my hubby had "unlimited tries" with his insurance otherwise I would never have been able to afford it. I'm with you, something must be done in congress!!
ReplyDeleteThought you might like to know about my blog--I write to help others with IF!
http://stressfreeinfertilityblog.com Come check it out!
We used a combination of credit card, savings & benefits to fund our three IUI/injectable cycles & a couple of clomid cycles before that. I'm in Canada, but IVF is NOT covered under any provincial health plan, although Quebec is moving to provide coverage & Ontario (where I live) will fund up to three IVF cycles -- IF both your fallopian tubes are blocked -- otherwise, you're out of luck.
ReplyDeleteWith the IUIs, the procedure itself (plus all the office visits, u/s, bloodwork, etc.) was actually covered, but we had to pay $350 a pop for the sperm wash. Go figure? The drugs, of course, were the big expense. My workplace medical benefits covered my drugs up to a LIFETIME maximum of $1,500. Needless to say, I zipped through that in a couple of days. Each cycle, the dosage was increased. We paid around $2,500-3,000 for each cycle. Not counting all the costs of subway tokens to get the clinic on weekdays, parking on weekends, etc. Expenses were certainly one reason (although not the only one) we decided to stop when we did.