Infertility and Tricare

tlalli7106

Next month will be a whole year that DH have been TTC. Obviously if we aren't successful this month we will be going to my Dr. to see what next steps we need to take from here. I went onto the Tricare website to see what they (I'm on Tricare Prime) will cover and what they will not but didn't really find any definite answer. Does anyone know the procedure of testing, etc. for infertility after one year and what Tricare Prime will cover or can you point me to a website that may clarify? TIA!

ufsandra85

im going through fertility and they pretty much cover everything except iui and ivf. the did a whole work up of tests and now i am on clomid and everything is covered. good luck!

lisa&andy

What I have been told is that Tricare will cover all the testing but they do not cover IUI and IVF. I had all of my testing done prior to having Tricare so I have no experience there. However, when I got on Tricare, I was refered to an RE, Tricare covered all of my ultrasounds and bloodwork during my cycle and I paid a very small copay for my meds. The problem was with me so we did injectibles+TI and Tricare covered it all, no problem, that cycle resulted in my twins. Good luck!

jb2rn

Yes, what the PP have said. They covered my RE referral (get one, don't just see an OB/GYN), bloodwork, and u/s, as well as my dh's semen analysis. I do not believe injectable meds are covered if you did do IUI or IVF.

lauren2_00@yahoo.com

jb2rn:

Yes, what the PP have said. They covered my RE referral (get one, don't just see an OB/GYN), bloodwork, and u/s, as well as my dh's semen analysis. I do not believe injectable meds are covered if you did do IUI or IVF.

I agree about requesting the RE referral. I had a bad experience with going to an OB/GYN who dabbled in infertility. Injectibles are covered for IUI and IVF. I've been doing injects for the last 4 cycles and haven't paid for anything out of pocket as far as meds go. If this last IUI is a bust, we'll be doing IVF in the spring. All meds will be covered for that also.  

Smudges*Mom

If you are in the San Diego area, as your location indicates, call the regular appointment line to make an appointment with an OB/GYN, if they will let you, to get a referral to be seen at the Infertility Clinic at NTC. I started my treatment there. We did four IUIs (1 Clomid, 3 with injectibles) and we did not pay a penny. This was almost four years ago, things may have changed, but I'd be surprised if they changed that much.

Best of luck. Dealing with infertility sucks, I hope you get your BFP soon!

MyHusbandMyHero

I went through our military fertility clinic for my IVF. There are 2 clinics I believe, one at Walter Reed and one at BAMC -- all my testing, injectibles, and IVF was covered (typically at these clinics, IVF isn't covered but IUI is). You can get a referral to these clinics but it means traveling and most of the time a 2 week stay at the Fisher House, at least that's how out of town girls from my cycle did it. You can also call a tricare representative for more info

Smudges*Mom

MyHusbandMyHero:

I went through our military fertility clinic for my IVF. There are 2 clinics I believe, one at Walter Reed and one at BAMC -- all my testing, injectibles, and IVF was covered (typically at these clinics, IVF isn't covered but IUI is). You can get a referral to these clinics but it means traveling and most of the time a 2 week stay at the Fisher House, at least that's how out of town girls from my cycle did it. You can also call a tricare representative for more info

There were four IF Clinics at MTFs, but I *think* there may be five or six now. I know that the original four are at Walter Reed (but WRAMC is closing, I'm not sure where the IF Clinic is moving), Wilford (?) Hall in San Antonio, NTC (in San Diego) and Tripler in HI. I believe that they now have IF Clinics at Fort Bragg and maybe at Fort Lewis (WA).

When I did my IUIs at NTC, we didn't have to pay anything. I have heard that some clinics have to charge for lab fees. When we did IVF at Walter Reed, three years ago, we paid about $6k--which included ICSI--and covered, basically, lab fees.

It is most cost effective to be seen at a military IF Clinic. They are teaching facilities, which is how they are able to provide treatment/services that Tricare does not cover. If you were to go to a civilian RE, Tricare would cover diagnostic testing and meds for TI.

o_so_in_love

I went after unsuccessfully ttc for 8 months. Doc did blood work on me right away, found out I hadn't been ovulating, prescribed me Letrozole (ovulation inducer) and I got pregnant right away. Didn't have to pay a dime.

My last pregnancy we were also having trouble TTC, again I wasn't ovulating. Doc ran tests, prescribed me Clomid, I got pregnant without using the Clomid. I miscarried at 13 weeks, had a D&E and had pathology done on our baby.  Also Doc did bloodwork to see if something was going on with my body that caused it.  Again, I didn't have to pay.

Tricare Prime really is wonderful for all that it covers.  We are very lucky to have our insurance.  All you really need to do is go to your PCM and tell them you want a referral.  GL!

lauren2_00@yahoo.com

Smudges*Mom:

MyHusbandMyHero:

I went through our military fertility clinic for my IVF. There are 2 clinics I believe, one at Walter Reed and one at BAMC -- all my testing, injectibles, and IVF was covered (typically at these clinics, IVF isn't covered but IUI is). You can get a referral to these clinics but it means traveling and most of the time a 2 week stay at the Fisher House, at least that's how out of town girls from my cycle did it. You can also call a tricare representative for more info

There were four IF Clinics at MTFs, but I *think* there may be five or six now. I know that the original four are at Walter Reed (but WRAMC is closing, I'm not sure where the IF Clinic is moving), Wilford (?) Hall in San Antonio, NTC (in San Diego) and Tripler in HI. I believe that they now have IF Clinics at Fort Bragg and maybe at Fort Lewis (WA).

When I did my IUIs at NTC, we didn't have to pay anything. I have heard that some clinics have to charge for lab fees. When we did IVF at Walter Reed, three years ago, we paid about $6k--which included ICSI--and covered, basically, lab fees.

It is most cost effective to be seen at a military IF Clinic. They are teaching facilities, which is how they are able to provide treatment/services that Tricare does not cover. If you were to go to a civilian RE, Tricare would cover diagnostic testing and meds for TI.

 

You're right about the other MTF clinics - I currently go to the one at Bragg and my friend goes to the one at Lewis.  

MyHusbandMyHero

Smudges*Mom:

MyHusbandMyHero:

I went through our military fertility clinic for my IVF. There are 2 clinics I believe, one at Walter Reed and one at BAMC -- all my testing, injectibles, and IVF was covered (typically at these clinics, IVF isn't covered but IUI is). You can get a referral to these clinics but it means traveling and most of the time a 2 week stay at the Fisher House, at least that's how out of town girls from my cycle did it. You can also call a tricare representative for more info

There were four IF Clinics at MTFs, but I *think* there may be five or six now. I know that the original four are at Walter Reed (but WRAMC is closing, I'm not sure where the IF Clinic is moving), Wilford (?) Hall in San Antonio, NTC (in San Diego) and Tripler in HI. I believe that they now have IF Clinics at Fort Bragg and maybe at Fort Lewis (WA).

When I did my IUIs at NTC, we didn't have to pay anything. I have heard that some clinics have to charge for lab fees. When we did IVF at Walter Reed, three years ago, we paid about $6k--which included ICSI--and covered, basically, lab fees.

It is most cost effective to be seen at a military IF Clinic. They are teaching facilities, which is how they are able to provide treatment/services that Tricare does not cover. If you were to go to a civilian RE, Tricare would cover diagnostic testing and meds for TI.

Wilford Hall is closing and moved to BAMC

KasiaB29

Hi. I have not posted in a long wile, but we just went through a series of fertility treatments in San Diego, so I figured the info might help. I was covered under Tricare Prime the whole time. After a year of TTC, my primary doc. sent me to the obgyn clinic at Camp Pendleton for testing. Once we were diagnosed with MFI, we got a referal to the Infertility Clinic at NTC. There I had a consult and we were put on a waiting list for ivf. We were told the wait for ivf would be about 12 months. While we were waiting, we did two IUI cycles with my obgyn (tricare covered everything). We ended up getting a call after about 7 months saying that we were on top of the list. However because we had just adopted our first daughter, we chose to delay the ivf until late last year. Tricare ended up covering everything but fertilization and embryo storage (those are done by one of two private ivf clinics that work with the clinic at NTC). We ended up paying around $4,000 for the cycle and we are paying every month for embryo storage. The phone number to the Infertility Clinic is 619.524.6218 I hope this helps.

hunt2005

Smudges*Mom:

MyHusbandMyHero:

I went through our military fertility clinic for my IVF. There are 2 clinics I believe, one at Walter Reed and one at BAMC -- all my testing, injectibles, and IVF was covered (typically at these clinics, IVF isn't covered but IUI is). You can get a referral to these clinics but it means traveling and most of the time a 2 week stay at the Fisher House, at least that's how out of town girls from my cycle did it. You can also call a tricare representative for more info

There were four IF Clinics at MTFs, but I *think* there may be five or six now. I know that the original four are at Walter Reed (but WRAMC is closing, I'm not sure where the IF Clinic is moving), Wilford (?) Hall in San Antonio, NTC (in San Diego) and Tripler in HI. I believe that they now have IF Clinics at Fort Bragg and maybe at Fort Lewis (WA).

When I did my IUIs at NTC, we didn't have to pay anything. I have heard that some clinics have to charge for lab fees. When we did IVF at Walter Reed, three years ago, we paid about $6k--which included ICSI--and covered, basically, lab fees.

It is most cost effective to be seen at a military IF Clinic. They are teaching facilities, which is how they are able to provide treatment/services that Tricare does not cover. If you were to go to a civilian RE, Tricare would cover diagnostic testing and meds for TI.

This is pretty much our experience. Ft Lewis (WA) is indeed one of the locations. They only do IVF every other month, though, and have a limited number of slots, so it could be several months before you can start hte process whereas Walter Reed and other locations do it every month. IVF is $5000-$8000 depending on your protocol and location. IUI everything was covered except the actual insemination ($250). If we had stayed in town, the meds and u/s are only covered on "natural" cycles and therefore are not covered on cycles that you do IUI/IVF/etc.

Smudges*Mom

hunt2005:

This is pretty much our experience. Ft Lewis (WA) is indeed one of the locations. They only do IVF every other month, though, and have a limited number of slots, so it could be several months before you can start hte process whereas Walter Reed and other locations do it every month. IVF is $5000-$8000 depending on your protocol and location. IUI everything was covered except the actual insemination ($250). If we had stayed in town, the meds and u/s are only covered on "natural" cycles and therefore are not covered on cycles that you do IUI/IVF/etc.

Granted, it was three years ago when I cycled, but Walter Reed ran IVF cycles only four times a year--basically, once a quarter. It is one of the ways they are able to keep costs down. Everything is planned out--your age dictates what day of the week you start your IVF cycle. Slots are limited, and there is minimal handholding. But, they get results.

So, if military IVF may be in your future, contact the appropriate MTF with an IF Clinic to see how often they cycle and what the anticipated wait is.

jb2rn

One thing about doing IUI or IVF at an MTC...they don't see everyone.

I had high FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone, basically premature ovarian failure) and I would have not been allowed to cycle with them. The cut off I believe is an FSH of 12, and you can see in my siggy I was higher than that. Just an FYI (I am not saying this will be your dx, obviously).

I just got really, really lucky and got pregnant (still not sure how).