can we talk $$$

amma31

Dear mommas-to-be, one of the reasons why I looked for these forums is to be able to discuss things that I would prefer not to discuss with people in my real world, I'm assuming many of you can agree. For one, I just find it draining to talk about our fertility issue with others that's can't relate, even if they are close and well-meaning.

I don't know about everyone else but for us thus far this process has been costly.  I wouldn't say the costs have been devastating, but the finances have been a source of stress and I want to talk about it with people that can relate to this.  DH and I have our moments and our ups and downs. One minute we're reminding each other that life is pretty good and the next we're freaking out.

So I would appreciate if some of you ladies going through the process of assisted conception can share stories of how you dealt and managed finances during this time.  How much did the process cost you and how did you deal with it?  What sacrifices or allowances has your family had to make?  I will post more about us in the replies in between studying (have a big spanish test tomorrow), but I just wanted to put this out there first.  This is not meant to be a pity party, but more of a "we're all in this together" party, and hopefully we'll be able to gather from each other's stories that whatever we're dealing with-it'll get better!

mskeenan

Hi there ! It has been a huge source of stress in all this - and we even have great insurance . My husband is worried he is going to lose his job any day now so I feel like we are racing to get procedures done so we don't have to pay out of pocket . We are waiting to hear if IVF is covered by insurance . If it isn't i don't know what we will do . We have student loans that seem like they will never go away and are saving for a house someday (maybe in 10 years ... Ha !) paying out of pocket for such an expensive procedure will definitely be a huge stress . I feel guilty spending money on anything right now - I feel like I should be saving every penny I have to prepare for what I'm going to need .

I do feel blessed in that thus far most of my procedures and meds have been covered . I should count that as a blessing and just prepare for the future I suppose .

Good luck to you !! Hang in there . I know it's stressful but when we have our little babies in our arms we won't be able to put a price on that !

lizg19

Hi there,
Our insurance doesn't cover ivf so I had to take a loan from my 401k plan approx 15k. This amount covered my ivf package, medicine and extra medicine. Also I went for acupuncture and again I had to paid for that too.
Is very difficult not to stress about but is something we wanted . We found out that we needed Ivf in Jan. so we waited until August to start because we wanted to pay off some stuff as well as have some fun too. Do save money but also enjoy it a lil bit. I know it may some selfish/wrong but sometime buying myself a top or getting a mani n pedi. Has relax me and save me from breakdown in tears.
Good luck and we are here for u

lovelifewife

I feel ya on this. Nothing related to fertility is covered by my or my husband's insurance- and we have great jobs. So,even after 2 years of trying and 2 MC (it really stinks when you have to pay to have D&C w MC by the way) this is giving us some hesitance to be too aggressive w treatments because every RE visit is $200-350 out of pocket, meds have been covered 0%.. I took crinone which is $600 for 30-day supply and haven't even done anything procedural yet like IUI. I'm worried we will be going down a rabbit hole if you know what I mean. I'm blessed to have some savings just worried about how quickly this will add up.

emsmama15

Yes.  It's extremely stressful to think about the money issue.  My husband lost his job in the spring and we've gone forward with IUIs because they're covered under our insurance (thankfully - I realize how lucky I am).  Nothing further will be covered so we're tentatively planning IVF for November, but if he doesn't have a job by then, I don't think we can do it.  We can find the money (401K loan or loan from my dad, most likely) but it doesn't seem responsible to do it when we only have my income.  UGH.  It's just so stressful to think about.  Good luck!!

Whiggrrl65

My insurance covers RE visits and IUIs but not injectibles. I realize I am very lucky but even constant co-pays add up when you throw the injectibles on top of it.
We do not have any IVF coverage. We have always said we would never do IVF but as I get further into this process, I am beginning to change my mind. DH though is firmly against it as he worries about paying $15K and it not working.

emsmama15

It's funny @Whiggrrl65, when we started trying I said I wouldn't do IVF, but now here we are.  We've set the limit at one fresh cycle (and would do frozens if we have anything extra after the fresh).  I "think" that will be a hard limit, just based on money alone, but I didn't really want to commit to that either...

agriffin92013

My insurance only covers the diagnostic testing for infertility but doesn't pay for any of the treatments. We were on the fence about iui because it is expensive but not that bad. It costs about 700 a mth for iui, meds and monitoring. But we have both decided we won't go into ivf. We agreed we don't want to finance getting pregnant and want insurance won't pay for the delivery

misshopeful1

Yes! Office copays are 20% for us, iui around $400. Don't know what injectable coverage is yet. DH has a $15000 cap in infertility and that's a one time use (would be applied to IVF as we haven't used any yet) but IVF would still run us about $9000. Good on people who can borrow but we can't handle thought of financing $10000 plus. We looked into loans and the payment monthly would have been astronomical. We want a baby but need to afford them once they're here and don't want to be in debt the rest of our lives. Absolute rock and a hard place.

amma31

Thank you all for sharing and I'll be replying to everyone. SO here's a little about us.  We got married in December of 14,  I'm 31 DH is 35. SO moneywise this has just been really bad timing for us. DH took a big hit in the stock market about a year ago before our wedding, and I left a significantly higher paying job to move with DH (he's a university professor close to tenureship so it made more sense for me to move than him). So in our case we found out in May that there's a high chance only IVF will work.  At our clinic the cost with ICSI and PGS would be a little under 20K.  This doesn't include meds which may be roughly 4K.  So we thought we both had pretty good insurance, but my insurance covers nothing  towards fertility procedures but my husband's insurance will pay for the meds so we added me on my husband's insurance (has paid for the IUI meds which is where we are now).  Also despite pretty decent coverage, my husband incurred a lot of medical expenses going from one specialist to another.

So we opened up a savings account starting in May and made a plan to put at least 2K a month into it.  We took out 2600 to pay for the first IUI we're on the process of now. however if it fails we will have the cash for our IVF by January (if not sooner).  We can actually put costs on credit cards, however we still have a good bit of credit card debt from all of the wedding festivities, honeymoon expenses, and new furniture that we're trying to pay off, so we're trying to avoid adding to the debt.  Having credit card debt is stressful and I don't want to start a pregnancy under stress.

On the personal level it's been a struggle.  We're making sacrifices.  Neither of us spend the way we used to before we got married.  We were making plans to move out of our apt and into a nice uptown townhome where the rent will cost about 1K more than what we're paying now, but when this all came up we decided to just renew the lease for our little 2 bedroom apt.  We're thinking about getting rid of his BMW that came with a highly monthly payment. I still drive my poor grad student car that my dad gave me and have no plans to upgrade anytime soon.  In addition to my full time job, I started working one day a week at my old job where I have to drive over 2 hours one way, but that extra check has really helped.

 

Wicked4589

IVF was not covered by my husbands insurance but I reside in a state that mandates it be covered in individual plans. So as of Jan 1 I went on an individual plan in IL. We took the best plan option out there because we knew we would be using it like crazy. While I pay $320 a month just for my insurance coverage, our OOP was $3,250 and the cost of my meds went towards that. I hit my OOP Max in February. Since then I haven't had to pay anything. I am so fortunate that we have this option available. Otherwise there is no way we could have afforded it. So far this year my insurance has paid $42,000.

amma31

mskeenan said:

Hi there ! It has been a huge source of stress in all this - and we even have great insurance . My husband is worried he is going to lose his job any day now so I feel like we are racing to get procedures done so we don't have to pay out of pocket . We are waiting to hear if IVF is covered by insurance . If it isn't i don't know what we will do . We have student loans that seem like they will never go away and are saving for a house someday (maybe in 10 years ... Ha !) paying out of pocket for such an expensive procedure will definitely be a huge stress . I feel guilty spending money on anything right now - I feel like I should be saving every penny I have to prepare for what I'm going to need . I do feel blessed in that thus far most of my procedures and meds have been covered . I should count that as a blessing and just prepare for the future I suppose . Good luck to you !! Hang in there . I know it's stressful but when we have our little babies in our arms we won't be able to put a price on that !

@mskeenanWhy are you worried that your husband might lost his job? is it related to the insurance? If you're IVF is covered by insurance that would be amazing!!  but even if it's not I'm sure you'll find a way to figure it out. I feel thankful that our diagnostic stuff was covered ( we pay 20percent) and the injections were covered which is huge-but the actual procedures-nada!

I hear ya about the student loans. I have a ridiculous amount of student loans, but I just pay the monthly payment and pretend like the rest doesn't exist-I don't even look at the balance anymore but I know I'll be paying for the next 27 years.  I've also been battling with the spending guilt, but as I tell my husband I took on a second job and I work a lot so I deserve to do some fun stuff.  In July I went on a girlfriends trip to NYC which we had planned months befre and DH wasn't crazy about it, but my credit card miles covered airfare.  I wanted to do something big for my mom on her 52nd birthday.  She's never been on a cruise so I decided to take her on a cruise at the end of this month (we invited other family members so it's gonna be a big girls group), my cost ended up being 2200 and I'll be taking a week off work.  I feel guilty about it but I've been working so much between 2 jobs I really need the vacation.  DH encouraged me to take her at first, but every time we argue about our expenses he reminds me of the trip, UGH

Keep me updated on what you guys decide to do!

amma31

lizg19

Hi Liz! So I actually looked into borrowing against my 401K thinking that I would be able to borrow the full amount but I was informed that I can only take out 5K, not worth it.  DH isn't allowed to take out anything from his retirement plan before actual retirement.

In times like this you have to have your indulgences to keep you from going crazy, so I don't blame you!  I feel really thankful that in the same shopping complex that I work in there's a nail place that does manis for 10 bucks (I work in the hood), so I haven't been deprived of the manis lol. 

I keep thinking about the way I used to spend before getting married and think "wow that was crazy".  Every 2 week paycheck I used to go to my favorite boutique and buy an outfit, once I spent almost 200 on one shirt there.  My biggest sacrifice has been the traveling.  Before I got married I used to travel like one weekend a month, and that's just not an option right now.  DH and I took a week long vacation to Miami in May right before finding out about our problems, and I'm glad we did it before otherwise we wouldn't have enjoyed that trip.

So where are you in the process now?

amma31

lovelifewife Isn't it so irritating when you think your job is awesome and you find out that your insurance is good for nothing during this time?  I'm thankful we got the meds covered at least, but that was a battle.  They rejected coverage for meds first and we had to fight them on it.

what's D&C?, I'm sorry to hear about your MC. I'm sure that you will find a way to figure all this out, and having savings I'm sure was a huge load of stress off of you.  We started saving once we actually found out about all this.  I wish I could go back to my silly spending days and tell myself to put that money aside.

amma31

emsmama15 I am so sorry to that your husband lost his job, but that's great that IUI is covered-you are very lucky for that.

We thought about borrowing money from a family member but the way our family is we decided against it and said we'd rather wait a few months and save up.  It just wouldn't feel right to go on a vacation or buy something nice when we owed a family member money, and I know with my family that would be an issue.  I admit part of it is our proud.  We haven't told many about our fertility problems,  however everyone in my family knows that we both have good jobs and if we asked the family to borrow money it's going to open the judgy eyes.  Some will see us as irresponsible and think that we've been living beyond our means.

If you know your dad wouldn't hold it against you if you're not paying every extra cent you have to him until the debt is paid, then go for it!

amma31

Whiggrrl65  We're on IUI number 1 and I already decided that I want to go straight to IVF if this doesn't work. I can't do this process multiples times.  It's been too much of a time and emotional investment.    However if my insurance covered IUI I might do more of these, we're having to pay for them.  Does your insurance cap how many they'll pay for?

amma31

agriffin92013  So that's exactly what my insurance covers, all the diagnostic testing but nothing related to treatment.  However DH covered meds including injections, so we added me to his.  So 700  is a really good price, is this with injectables?  if you don't mind, what state do you live in? We're doing IUI w/  injectables and we paid 2600 for this cycle (that's without the meds which insurance covered). We decided to do our first cycle with injectables since it the chance of success is significantly more that way.  I know it's cheaper at my center if it's just with clomid, however it's not 700 cheap. I think it's still over a grand.  One of my girlfriends did IUI with injectables (in a different state where it's generally cheaper) and her cost was 1100 per cycle. However I know her insurance covered some of it.

I agree with you about not financing.  We applied for financing for IVF through the center and didn't get approved (we had a lot of credit card debt at the time), but it was a blessing in disguise because we don't want to add to our debt.  Also, it felt really good to be able to pay for the IUI cycle in cash instead of putting it on another card.  We've been aggressively saving up and if this IUI cycle doesn't work we will hopefully be prepared to pay the IVF in cash by December/January.

So where are you in the cycle now? have you started treatment?  Good luck!

amma31

misshopeful1  So is your IUI 400 after insurance coverage or is that how much it is at your center?  As I was telling Agriffin, that's a really good price!  I'm not sure why it looks like there's such a discrepancy in costs, we're paying 2600 for the injectable cycle (not including actual meds).  My cycle involves going in every other day for ultrasound and blood work, is that something they also have you do?

I applaud your financial responsibility, that's really going to pay off for you when you start your family! we didn't get approved for financing through the center back when we applied but I'm thankful that we didn't.  We can put the costs on a credit card, but we already have so much debt that we're paying off and we don't want to take a step back, and it will feel really good to be able to for this in cash.  We've been doing a good job of sticking to our savings plan.  With the exception of my student loans, we're hoping to be debt free by the time we deliver baby number 1 (whenever that will be).  Like you, we don't want to be stressed out new parents!

It sounds like you have a pretty decent plan that will really help you guys out.  Where are you in the process now?

amma31

Wicked4589 WOW that is awesome, I just shared this with my husband and he said guess what we're moving to IL! I should do my research and see if Texas or Louisiana have something like that.  We pay 300 a month just to add me to my husband's insurance to get the injections covered-which we're thankful for because it was a couple grand.

Piperella

I stress over the finances all the time. My husband is a full time student and my insurance does not cover any infertility services. I've taken out loans from both my 403bs, and it's still not enough. We have enough for two more iui attempts. We would go to IVF if my dad is willing to give us a loan.... that always comes with strings attached though.

agriffin92013

@amma31. I take femara and a trigger shot

KLake42

We don't have any insurance coverage for fertility treatments, so it all out of pocket.  We've just had our 6th IUI, and I'm in the TWW for it.  We'd thought about moving on the IVF if this doesn't work, but my wife just lost her job.  I feel like I've done a lot to improve my eggs (supplements since January, and 3 months now of acupuncture and TCM herbs) so I don't want to take a break.  We put this IUI on a credit card, and plan to put up to two more on one, before we reassess. 

Meanwhile, we're on a very tight budget.  We parcel out our grocery money in a set amount of cash each week, which we keep in a ziplock bag, and we only eat what we cook.  I've learned to do a lot with a chicken (including making a broth with the bones, and making gravy with the fat).  I even taught myself how to bake bread and biscuits from scratch.  (We used to eat out all the time.) 

We also get by with just one car, and coordinate it between us, and rely on public transportation a lot (that's a big chunk of change right there).
 
We're lucky that we got most of our debt paid before we started this (except student loans... we won't talk about student loans).  Once my wife finds a new job, we should be able to pay off the credit card pretty easily.  We're also considering a 401k loan, if we got for IVF.

I'm hoping that with the money we've spent this year, we've hit the threshold for it to have an impact on our tax refund.  So far, we're close to the line.

I'm crossing my fingers that when my wife finds work, it will be with a company that offers insurance with some fertility coverage.

@amma31, you asked @lovelifewife what a D&C is.  That's dilation and curretage, a procedure that's commonly used after an incomplete miscarriage (which might also be an incredibly difficult experience).  I'd say more about it, but it's an emotionally volatile sort of thing, so maybe google it?  She probably had to pay out of pocket because it's such a politicized procedure, a lot of plans don't cover it.

Edited because I have very clumsy fingers with this whole typing thing.

dande2129

I'm sorry that you're going through this. 

We are secure financially, but we didn't anticipate that we'd have to pour as much money as we have into treatment that has not worked so far. I was really hopeful my first round because of the high rate of success, but, obviously I'm not pregnant.

My insurance does not cover infertility treatments, so they provided us a print-out that lists every typical IF procedure and test and gives the cost breakdown for each. We are still just skimming the surface of treatment, so we haven't got into the hefty stuff yet. (But have still spent over $1,000 so far, which isn't much in comparison to others, but still not something we envisioned.)

The print-out gave me major anxiety when I first looked through it, but since then, I think that helps us cope better. We know the cost going forward and we can discuss and make informed decisions about continuing treatment, or opting out of certain procedures. After breaking down the cost, we've been able to decide, "Ok, we'll do this but we don't do this," mainly based on the cost factor of various treatments.

My best advice is to get a total breakdown of everything so you can be prepared. HTH.

ETA: To offset the cost of treatment, we scaled back on some things we could live without like massages, movie theater trips, eating dinner out and cancelled subscriptions to clothing companies that would send us things each month. We also switched around our internet so that we pay less for a slower internet, though I haven't really noticed the change in speed.

vssbrm

Money is a huge stress for me in this IF game. I feel like some people I talk to about this think I am being a brat and miserly for being so worried about it. Yes, my dh and I both have good jobs, but - We both have student loans that add up to be much more than our mortgage each month. I have reduced my hours to part time and am only focusing on 1 project and shortly will be "retired". I have a more advanced case of anxiety, which is largely enhanced due to my career, taking meds is not an option for me while TTC. When I am no longer working it will be a big financial hit for us. I love my career, but I want a baby so badly.

Our insurance only covers office visits, so we pay a $40 co-pay each visit (which I really appreciate) - this does not include the fees for IUIs or other treatments etc, just to chat with the doc. So far the only script covered has been the progesterone. Everything else is out of pocket. It seems to add up quickly.

When ever I get a new script I call all of the pharmacies in my area to see which is the cheapest. It is amazing how costs are different at each. For Ovidrel it ranged from $312 to $140. It takes a little while, but it is worth the time!

amma31

KLake42   I'm sorry to hear your wife lost her job during this time.  Hopefully you won't have to put 2 more IUI because the next one might be the charm!  It sounds like you've been doing what you need to be doing on your end.  Aren't all of those sacrifices oh so humbling?  We went to the mall today and on the way DH said "we're just going to look around right?", I was like dude I get it!  Afterwards we went out to eat to this middle eastern place we go to often and he said "lets not make this a 70 dollar night"...we did ok with $45.  Your place probably smells amazing from all the made from scratch creations you've got going on...and yes, let's not even talk about student loans!

amma31

Piperella  I don't mean to get personal but how long is your husband going to be in school for? Have you considered putting off the process until he's done and working?  If everything worked out and you were able to conceive are you planning on taking time off work after delivering? I feel like it would be tough to have 2 nonworking people with a  new baby.

I totally relate to your ambitious feelings about having family help out.  We considered asking a family member for a loan but we know it would just open up the doors for them to be in our business all the time.

amma31

dande2129  It sounds like you guys have it figured out! We met with the financial counselor at our fertility center and they sent us breakdowns of what all the different procedures will cost. Maybe we should have shopped around for better prices, however we started at a different center that my obgyn referred us to and we had a horrible experience so that's what brought us to this one.  We don't want to risk looking for a cheaper option and then have another bad experience.  What type of cycle was it that cost you a grand? that is pretty good, as I said in another reply our cycle is 2600 and that's with our insurance paying for the injectables which I'm grateful for.

I don't know if we would call ourselves financially secure or insecure.  We both each make 6 figures which sounds like a lot, however I've only been working as a professional for a little over 2 years and that first year was spent stupid spending and traveling so I don't have much to show for it.  If only I can just go back and put some of that money aside.  We have a lot of cash flow thankfully, but we also started the marriage with debt.  It's like as soon as one thing is paid off, something else comes up and we find ourselves back at square 1. We're really proud that in September we were all able to put 5K towards CC debt and still pay cash for the IUI , but with the way our life is going it's just a matter of time before the next thing comes up for us!

amma31

vssbrm So I can totally relate because DH and I both have good jobs (we both make 6 figures each), and this is why a lot of people just can't relate to our financial stresses-especially some family members. They're always like "what exactly are you doing with your money"?  I'm just curious, can I ask why you've cut down your work?  Are you looking to switch to something else?  

  During this time I took on extra work, I'm saving the working less part for when I actually get pregnant.  I also have a ridiculous amount of student loans, but I just pay my monthly payment and pretend like the rest doesn't exist.  DH has non.   Do you know if your plan covers any of the actual procedures? pharmacy shopping is smart.  With our insurance they cover the meds (our OPP was 155 for the follistim) but we have to use their own contracted pharmacies.

I just keep reminding myself that it could always be worse.  You could be making less money than you're making now, one of you could lose your job.  Reminding myself that it could always be worse helps keep the anxiety down for me.  Good luck sweets!

Piperella

@amma31 If I waited for him to be done with school I'd be over 40. My age is a factor that plays into this. Things will never be 100% perfect when trying to get pregnant.

amma31

Piperella Ahh I see, well then that's a good reason to not wait unfortunately maternal age plays a big role in all this.  Good luck!!!

vssbrm

@Amma31 I am cutting back at work because I have anxiety that is largely due to my job. The older I have gotten the wores it has gotten. I am not talking about your average woory wort kind of anxiety, more like it has caused me to have TMJ, I loose sleep because I am worried about what might go wrong, along with worrying about anything that has not been perfect. I actually have some ocd too, in the middle of the night I will have to remote into to my work computer to check something to see if it was done correcrtly because I was dreaming about it being wrong. As my anxiety counselor has expressed to me, I need a job that is not emotional. The one I have is very emotional and it has taken its toll. So yes, even though I do enjoy what I do, and since I can not do it in a vacuum, I will be transitioning careers. Everything I have been told or read indicates getting pregnant w this is difficult and having a family is more important.

We are on an aggressive payment plan for school loans, we want at least my husbands paid in 8 more years... we are older and I do not want to be retiring while still paying them.

Our plan does not cover any procedures, there is no infertility coverage at all. Anything that has been covered has been a fluke because it can be related to fixing an issue not necessarily related to infertility, ie. the progesterone suppliments.

Yes, you are right, it could be worse, and even with this struggle we are pretty blessed. We are very fortunate that I can scale back working yet still "afford" to be doing IUI. IVF on the other hand... that will be a lot of conversations and penny pinching. Fx we don't have to go there.

Wicked4589

For anyone interested, the following states have fertility coverage of some kind. The extent of coverage varies but do not just rely on workplace insurance. If you live in one of these states, seek out the assistance of an independent insurance agent. Arkansas Connecticut Hawaii Illinois Maryland Massachusetts Montana New Jersey Ohio Rhode island Texas Utah and West Virginia. They may not cover IVF but there may be options out there that are not available to you in employer sponsored plans. Especially if your employer is self insured. Self insured companies do not have to cover state mandated coverages. Only federally mandated coverages. I wish the Feds would get with the program.

amma31

Wicked4589 said:

For anyone interested, the following states have fertility coverage of some kind. The extent of coverage varies but do not just rely on workplace insurance. If you live in one of these states, seek out the assistance of an independent insurance agent. Arkansas Connecticut Hawaii Illinois Maryland Massachusetts Montana New Jersey Ohio Rhode island Texas Utah and West Virginia. They may not cover IVF but there may be options out there that are not available to you in employer sponsored plans. Especially if your employer is self insured. Self insured companies do not have to cover state mandated coverages. Only federally mandated coverages. I wish the Feds would get with the program.

Thank for this info!!! we're in texas and my husband will be looking into this to see what exactly we can get covered.  My insurance is through my ex FT employer in Louisiana which I'm paying 200 a month , it's a pretty good plan but covers nothing  towards fertility.  So we added me on my husband's university insurance to get the meds covered but we're paying  300 a month, so I'm now paying  500 a month to be on the 2 plans (each is better for one thing and I already met the deductible for my former plan so I didn't want to just drop it.).  My fear with the individual plans is that I have a congenital heart condition and I'm afraid they won't cover my cardiology stuff...but if it's worth it maybe I can drop one of my other plans and take on the individual one

Wicked4589

They will cover heart issues. There are no pre existing condition exclusions. Talk to a local independent agent and they can help you with all your questions. Open enrollment starts in a few weeks so the sooner the better. Otherwise agents will be bombarded. At least you can get your questions answered before open enrollment. chances are your husbands university is self insured so an individual plan would be a better option. Good luck!

lizg19

Hi @amma31

the sucks that you guys cannot borrow $$ from your 401K 

Before borrowing from my 401K - i asked my dad to see if it was possible to borrow some from him and he said he didnt have much but he was going to give us a much as possible and pay him when we were going to be able. 

Ohh i miss those $10 mani - when i go visit my parents in Jersey i get them. I live in PA (outside of Philly) so kinda hard to find those spots.  

i know what you mean about spending $$ before but honestly i dont regret it . we didn't have responsibilities. We bought a home before we got married. I also took a paycut to be in a better job - more relax and nicer.

I will miss taking vacation, our last trip was in May to Mexico. we book the cheapest thing we could've find. We needed.

I'm right now during my 2WW. They did my transfer (2 embies) on Sept 26th. I will be going back to the Doctor next Monday for blood work to see if the treatment work.

if you can wait a little i will suggest do it but because age (i'm 35) I will suggest, maybe ask a family member to borrow some $ and pay them when you can or check grants. there are website that gives you discount for the medicine.

also, dont forget at the end of the year, you will get $$ back from uncle Sam (tax refund)

Good Luck

mskeenan

Ugh I just heard back that my insurance denied my IVF coverage even though they say they cover IVF . Apparently I don't meet criteria due to my age and the fact that I've gotten pregnant from an IUI that resulted in a miscarriage . My doctor appealed and they denied that . My doctor is even calling to speak to the medical director at insurance to make the case for me but it's not looking good . I already paid for my meds and my doctor quoted me 11,500 out of pocket for everything else . Does anyone else know if that's good ?? I don't know what to do . I'm lucky that I had some money (though not much ) saved up but I had wanted to use that savings as a down payment on a condo or small home in the next couple of years . I suppose that will have to be put on hold . I don't know what to do - try more IUIs or just invest in IVF ? Ah !!

lizg19

sorry for the bad news @mskeenan  insurance sucks - our government should make this a mandatory for insurance to provide to everyone 

try this website and maybe you can get some rebate $ for your meds. https://www.ivfgreenlight.com/

good luck 

mskeenan

Thank you @lizg19 . My husband and I decided we are not ready for the financial plunge . Ugh I'm so upset I was so excited for IVF . We are moving forward with another IUI that should only cost us 250 . I hope it works !!

vnegron87

@mskeenan insurance companies will more than likely deny an expensive procedure like that just because there is the chance that it won't be appealed. I'm happy to hear that your doctor is fighting it and even though the circumstances look slim i hope that ur doc is able to turn it around for you. Either way, GL on your next cycle, it happened once, means it can happen again :-)

amma31

lizg19 said:

Hi @amma31

the sucks that you guys cannot borrow $$ from your 401K 

Before borrowing from my 401K - i asked my dad to see if it was possible to borrow some from him and he said he didnt have much but he was going to give us a much as possible and pay him when we were going to be able. 

Ohh i miss those $10 mani - when i go visit my parents in Jersey i get them. I live in PA (outside of Philly) so kinda hard to find those spots.  

i know what you mean about spending $$ before but honestly i dont regret it . we didn't have responsibilities. We bought a home before we got married. I also took a paycut to be in a better job - more relax and nicer.

I will miss taking vacation, our last trip was in May to Mexico. we book the cheapest thing we could've find. We needed.

I'm right now during my 2WW. They did my transfer (2 embies) on Sept 26th. I will be going back to the Doctor next Monday for blood work to see if the treatment work.

if you can wait a little i will suggest do it but because age (i'm 35) I will suggest, maybe ask a family member to borrow some $ and pay them when you can or check grants. there are website that gives you discount for the medicine.

also, dont forget at the end of the year, you will get $$ back from uncle Sam (tax refund)

Good Luck

Small world, I went to undergrad in Philly I do miss it. May wasn't that long ago, how was Mexico ? We will be stopping in Cozumel on our cruise later this month-my first time in Mexico. The end of my 2WW for my first iui will likely be while I'm cruising with my mom. We just didn't anticipate my cycle to be this long. We make too much to qualify for any types of grants or assistance, unfortunately debt isn't taken into consideration. if the IUI fails we should have the cash for IVF by December if we're smart. Thankfully our meds are covered. Wow you're almost there. I'm so excited for you, I hope it's successful and I can't imagine how antsy you've been waiting !!

amma31

mskeenan said:

Ugh I just heard back that my insurance denied my IVF coverage even though they say they cover IVF . Apparently I don't meet criteria due to my age and the fact that I've gotten pregnant from an IUI that resulted in a miscarriage . My doctor appealed and they denied that . My doctor is even calling to speak to the medical director at insurance to make the case for me but it's not looking good . I already paid for my meds and my doctor quoted me 11,500 out of pocket for everything else . Does anyone else know if that's good ?? I don't know what to do . I'm lucky that I had some money (though not much ) saved up but I had wanted to use that savings as a down payment on a condo or small home in the next couple of years . I suppose that will have to be put on hold . I don't know what to do - try more IUIs or just invest in IVF ? Ah !!

I'm sorry to hear the bad news-these are tough decisions and every couple has different circumstances. How many IUIs have you done and how old are you ? maybe set a cap on the IUIs. I think for me personally this will be my last IUI because I can't deal with the uncertainty and it's been so disruptive to my life. The pros have to outweigh the cons, and the financial investment is a huge con.