IF and money issues

jalaiaa

Hope it is ok that I'm asking this over here. You are my home and I don't know the IF boards. A good friend of mine has been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for over a year. She's 31. I told her she should probably talk to her gyn and see a specialist. They have the most basic of insurance and make enough to pay the bills, but don't have a lot extra. 

She was asking me how much things cost (I'm in the medical profession so I think she thought I might know but it is far from my specialty).  I told her there were a lot of different IF treatments and I had no idea how much they are but that all I knew was that that it is a pretty expensive process. 

Besides directing her to the bump. Do you have any resources on what is out there. How much things cost. Is there any resources/help for those who are on a budget?

nikinikinine

MrsLee04:

She really needs to get evaluated first to try to identify her possible issues.  It's hard to say how much treatment may cost when we don't even know what is wrong with her, you know?  Also, each health care provider charges different rates, so again there is no blanket figure to give.  Just looking on IF boards you can see people pay completely different things for IUIs, IVF, etc. 

this exactly

she may have insurance coverage for testing, but not treatments. Or meds, but not cycles (which makes a huge difference).

Plus, clinics charge different things based on their locations and reputations.

What I paid for IVF in Upstate NY was nothing compared to what others paid downstate in NYC. 

Haven1

Very best of luck to your friend.  My suggestion would be to start researching specialists in her area.  The first time I met with my RE office, it was a free information meeting including an outline of the projected cost of stuff. 

jcath

www.fertilityplus.org talks about the tests and procedures used in diagnosis and  treatments and I believe has rough costs.  I think coverage for diagnostics is more common than coverage for treatment.  If she's got diagnostic coverage she should definitely go get the work up and at least find out what treatment would be recommended.  I would also suggest she get her work up done at an RE not her GYN.

caden

Ditto everyone else. Just wanted to add that you can get low interest loans for IF treatments. They used to do no interest as well but I'm not sure with the whole credit crisis what still exists. There are also charitable programs for the medications, if you have no Rx ins coverage.

ETA. ditto going to an RE, not an OB. REs like to do the diagnostic testing themselves and can do far more than the average OB would. 

jalaiaa

jcath:

www.fertilityplus.org talks about the tests and procedures used in diagnosis and  treatments and I believe has rough costs.  I think coverage for diagnostics is more common than coverage for treatment.  If she's got diagnostic coverage she should definitely go get the work up and at least find out what treatment would be recommended.  I would also suggest she get her work up done at an RE not her GYN.

I'll forward this site on to her. That is just the kind of thing I was looking for. Also, good to know that insurance may pay for the work up. I didn't know that.  

Thanks ladies.  

E&RMommy

IUI costs around $5-6K per cycle.

IVF for one cycle on average $15-20K.

Those are very loose averages but seem somewhat consistent.  There is also shared risk which some clinics offer for IVF.

It's soooooo darn expensive. 

veronicacorningstone

MrsLee04:

E&RMommy:

IUI costs around $5-6K per cycle.

IVF for one cycle on average $15-20K.

We didn't pay anything near these costs for IUIs or IVF......which is a good example why the friend is going to have to check with ART clinics in her area for pricing, as this shows everyone is different.

This.

Our insurance covered an IF diagnosis, but not treatment.  Our IUIs (clomid only) were between $500-$600.  Once we added Follistim and Ovidrel, they shot up to about $1200.

We bought an IVF package that would give us 3 tries at a fresh IVF cycle and 3 FETs.   That was $$.  If we would have only bought one IVF cycle it would have cost about $10,000.  So as you can see, the costs can vary! 

 

wishesforfish

Agree with PPs on getting evaluated ASAP. At 31, she (or her DH) will want to get diagnosed (if possible) with what's preventing her and DH from getting pregnant easily. 

There are is information online on IVF success rates and such, and a good success rate usually means a better clinic, but not necessarily. Your friend isn't at that stage yet, and hopefully will not need IVF. For now, she should either get her gyn to refer her to a good RE in her area, or research REs herself and request an appointment. Most insurance will cover the costs of testing.

I stress that she should make an appointment as soon as possible, because REs usually are booked for a month in advance. And THEN you have to do the testing and wait for results, and then after that will the couple actually have their issues come to light. And THEN they can start treatment.

As for costs, it will really vary with their issues. If it's male factor, then IUI or IVF is usually called for. If it's PCOS, clomid is the usual low cost first step. And then there are lots of other diagnoses I'm not familiar with ;p  

erinruns

I started with my OB.  Because they were in network, almost everything was covered, even though infertility wasn't covered by insurance.  My u/s were ruled diagnostic, so I only had to pay for the IUI.  Once I moved on to IVF it was all out of pocket, especially since my RE was not in network so absolutely nothing was covered, even bloodwork that would have been covered elsewhere.  I wish I would have asked more questions and had as much testing done as possible at places where insurance would cover it.