Anyone do a shared-risk IVF program?

DavezWife

(aka "warranty" program, pay one fee and get 3 tries?)

What kind of qualifications and fine print do you remember there being?

We've gathered general info from websites, and are awaiting detailed info from the RE's. Not sure we need to do IVF (and certainly can't afford the OOP expense easily) but I'm researching stuff.

Thanks.

ps - how many tried did it take ya?

krissyh21

Not all clinics carry shared risk in my area. There was one clinic that offered it and this is the list of their qualifications:

 

Women?s Age - ability to complete all three IVF cycles prior to the woman?s 38th birthday (unless donor eggs are being used)Day 3 Hormone Tests - FSH and E2 within normal limitsSemen AnalysisEvaluation of Fallopian Tubes and Uterine CavityBody Mass Index (BMI)Need for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Testing (PGD)Medical history, including highest recorded FSH, prior IUI and IVF cycles and pregnancy loss history (miscarriage)

PsychedForBaby

With our history (2 losses) we were denied.  That was the only reason they had to deny us.  

We got pregnant on IVF #2.  Not entirely OOP, thankfully we had good insurance that picked up roughly half the bill.   

DavezWife

Mel - you were at the place near Chicago Ave, right?

chit. chit. chit.

fallbride110406

IntegraMed will deny you for a miscarriage.  I was denied for being 1 point over BMI even though all of my medical history was otherwise acceptable.  I was also warned that if I got in and miscarried on any attempt, I would be dropped from the program.

DavezWife

fallbride110406:

IntegraMed will deny you for a miscarriage.  I was denied for being 1 point over BMI even though all of my medical history was otherwise acceptable.  I was also warned that if I got in and miscarried on any attempt, I would be dropped from the program.

damn! I've not run across that program yet.. "Attain" was one national one...

yikes. rethinking our options, gulp.  they can drop you if you m/c? really?

muppet.fan

We were completely OOP and did shared risk. I'd have to go back and look at the qualifications/fine print.

Our first IVF worked...but I have no regrets at all about paying for SR. I needed that guarantee....and for our program, it was that we brought home a live baby, not just a positive pregnancy, within 3 fresh/3 frozen attempts.

We could not have paid for more than one fresh cycle, so by doing SR, we were giving ourselves 6 tries (assuming we had frosties). It cut WAY down on the "what if this doesn't work" stress during the cycle. We had to finance some (Capital One healthcare/IF loan), but totally worth it.

fallbride110406

DavezWife:

fallbride110406:

IntegraMed will deny you for a miscarriage.  I was denied for being 1 point over BMI even though all of my medical history was otherwise acceptable.  I was also warned that if I got in and miscarried on any attempt, I would be dropped from the program.

damn! I've not run across that program yet.. "Attain" was one national one...

yikes. rethinking our options, gulp.  they can drop you if you m/c? really?

It was IntegraMed at our clinic when we applied (12/08) but now I think it's Attain.  I would read the fine print really carefully as ours was billed as 3 IVF/3 FET's for $23k (for us, I think it varied and this was without meds) with 75% refunded if you did not bring home a live baby, but it was all over the application and sample contract that they could drop you for anything, including if you got pregnant on any attempt and miscarried or were diagnosed with any clotting or immune disorder.  

GenRN45

Davez - look into programs like ARC fertility (google it).

ETA to add link:

https://www.arcfertility.com/

Quizzle

We didn't do Shared Risk, but our clinic runs their own shared-risk like program. Essentially, you pay for your first attempt completely OOP (around 11K, plus meds; it including everything it cost us around 16K).  This includes everything from your baseline ultrasound to confirmation of pregnancy, ICSI, AH if needed and freezing any frosties. I didn't pay a copay until I had my first u/s. If it doesn't work the first time, in all subsequent cycles, there's no charge for the doctor's fees. You pay labs and hospital fees only (so it's essentially half price.) It was pretty comparable to the shared-risk costs I found for my age.

Most of the ones around here seem to use Attain. I was nervous about them all because of our age.  I only have a history of one m/c and my main issue is possible pcos/anovulation. We were doing IVF because of severe MFI.

lnle

our clinic offered 4 fresh and unlimited frozen for around 23K (I think that was with ICSI - it was less w/o ICSI). We were triply successful on fresh cycle #3 (also did a frozen cycle between fresh #1 and #2)

fallbride - I can't believe they could drop you for m/c!!! that is so awful.

dtwmco

We chose our clinic based solely on the fact that they were the only one around that offered shared-risk...  (Turned out to be a great decision, though. )

I don't remember the exact qualifications - age, pregnancy history, outcome of certain tests (don't remember which ones, but I needed the regular blood tests and a saline sonogram)...

It worked x2 on the first try, but I'm still glad we did shared risk.  It was a ton of money and I hate to think of the cost, but DH looked at it as an insurance policy of sorts.  And I also feel good about helping out those who do shared risk and end up needing a third try or their money back for it not working at all.

ETA: It was also Integramed, and we also financed a chunk of it through a Capital One Healthcare Loan.

erin5407

We went to the Center for Reproductive Medicine on Chicago in Minneapolis.   When we were going through it Integramed was running the program.   We were accepted but decided not to do the program.   There were a lot of things that were not covered (I don't think any of the drugs were covered) and part of what was covered were FET.   We never had any make it to freeze.   We had a chemical with IVF #1 and got DD with IVF #2.   We ended up doing a Capital One Healthcare loan... the interest rate was really low. 

MayDayGirl

We did, through crm (ivfmn.com).  We used Dr Campbell.

 We almost didn't qualify because I had some random fsh level of 11 but it had always been 8 so they retested me and it was 9 and they accepted us. Also I'm pretty sure they don't accept people who've had a certain number of losses   I'm sorry chica.  But I think they're too much of a risk for them....

PsychedForBaby

DavezWife:

Mel - you were at the place near Chicago Ave, right?

chit. chit. chit.

Yep.  And like others, it was IntegraMed at the time.  Not sure if they've changed program providers since then.   

epphd

Integramad/attain are the same thing.  Attain is just the new name.  But it's the same company.  We used them for DE - so the qualifications are a lot easier, and had a great experience. They were very up front but there were no hidden costs AND I even ended up getting some rebates (like a refund for not having any frosties or something like that).

sliz

We used Attain for this one - 3 fresh/3 FET (if you have frozen embryos) for 21 K. Anesthesia, meds, cryopreservation , ICSI were extra. I got pg my first cycle and so far am 30 weeks along.

They accepted us even though we lost our twins at 17 weeks. Before we signed on, we made sure the terms were to take home a live baby from the hospital - I just couldn't justify that cost if there was a chance we would spend that money and have another late loss.

That being said, they can drop you for any reason and I am sure that if we lost this one they probably would. On the flip side, it also said that we could back out at any point and receive our refund (provided we were not pregnant through one of their cycles).

Your FSH had to be below 10 for every test. I'm sure there is a cut-off for estrogen too. The antral follicle count had to be normal. You had to have open tubes or hydrosalphinx removed and no uterine abnormalities. You had to have a BMI below 30. No history of recurrent loss and had to be able to complete all cycles by age 38.

I am happy with the results so far but will be happier one this little girl is in my arms....