Help! Insurance Decisions

lavril · November 2011

Hey ladies - it's that time of year where we select our health plan for next year. My DH and I are very fortunate to have a lot of options, but we feel very torn. One one hand is my current plan which has no deductible, and I pay a copay for doc visits, and they cover the rest. The maternity benefits are awesome, and they cover IF testing and meds (although not sure about injectibles - I need to look into that). They will not cover any meds associated w/ ART procedures (i don't think), nor the actual procedure itself - so no IUI, IVF, etc. Our other option costs more, has a 1500 deductible, but it covers 80% of all IF treatment and meds, up to 25k. So if we needed IUIs or IVF - that could save us a ton of money. So I'm torn, should we pay more up front with the idea that it might save us money in the long run, or go with the smaller plan and roll the dice. I think I'm leaning towards the 2nd plan just b/c it could save us so much.

WWYD? Anyone in the same boat?

delino · November 2011

Has your doctor has given you any incling that you may need iui or ivf? I would base my decision on that.

lavril · November 2011

We're dealing w/ borderline MFI - morph (4.5), so IUI could defn be in our future. RE said we can try one or two more cycles w/ TI and then we should really consider IUI. He'd let us do IUI now, but we wanted to try TI first.

delino · November 2011

You should sit down and do some serious math...increase in premium plus deductible vs. potential cost of iui. Without the numbers I am no help...sorry.

Allie-Jo · November 2011

Does your place of employement have a flex spending account for health benefits? I know a lot of companies do where you pay so much a month and they put the full amount that you will wind up paying over the year in an account you can start using on Jan 1st for medical cost.

My company does this so I have a fairly high deductable too ($1000) and so I put $1500 in the account this year and I use it toward my deductable. Might be worth looking into if it will save you money.

Allie-Jo · November 2011

BTW did I miss an update from you? How did your follie check go?

Rawr08 · November 2011

If IUI is in your future, I would go with the 2nd option. If IUI or IVF is not in the future, stick with what you have. I am not sure about where you work, but we get open enrollment twice a year. If you think you wouldn't use IUI or IVF within a year, stick with what you have and switch then...??? GL hun!

buckeyebaby814 · November 2011

Rawr08:
If IUI is in your future, I would go with the 2nd option. If IUI or IVF is not in the future, stick with what you have. I am not sure about where you work, but we get open enrollment twice a year. If you think you wouldn't use IUI or IVF within a year, stick with what you have and switch then...??? GL hun!

I was thinking this as well! However, Delino raises some good points as well as AllieJo. I know we're currently debating opening a flex spending account since we have no IF coverage.

lavril · November 2011

Thanks ladies!! After crunching all the numbers, I think we're going to go with the 2nd option. A couple IUI's and we'll recover the increase in cost.

We do have a flex spending account option and we'll use that as well (great suggestion Allie!). I had one this year and it worked out really well!

Thanks again!

lavril · November 2011

Allie-Jo:
BTW did I miss an update from you? How did your follie check go?

Not yet! I'm going to post one right now though Thanks for asking!

CashewsMommy · November 2011

lavril:
Thanks ladies!! After crunching all the numbers, I think we're going to go with the 2nd option. A couple IUI's and we'll recover the increase in cost.

We do have a flex spending account option and we'll use that as well (great suggestion Allie!). I had one this year and it worked out really well!

Thanks again!

I'm glad you got it figured out. I hate insurance plans. When i'm full time at my job, they only have one option to get. But we're on DHs plan and he had many options, he sat down with an expert at his work and she choose one for us after hearing what we would need. Unfortunately none of his plans cover IF meds or procedures.

MandaS08 · November 2011

I would go with the second option-if you end up not needing the IUI then you really won't care about the extra expense b/c you'll be pregnant! If you do need IUI's then having the monetary stress removed would be wonderful! The OOP expense of IUI's and IVF is one of the biggests sources of stress to me and my DH. If that wasn't a consideration I think our stress level about IF would be much lower!

lavril · November 2011

CashewsMommy:
lavril:

Thanks ladies!! After crunching all the numbers, I think we're going to go with the 2nd option. A couple IUI's and we'll recover the increase in cost.

We do have a flex spending account option and we'll use that as well (great suggestion Allie!). I had one this year and it worked out really well!

Thanks again!

I'm glad you got it figured out. I hate insurance plans. When i'm full time at my job, they only have one option to get. But we're on DHs plan and he had many options, he sat down with an expert at his work and she choose one for us after hearing what we would need. Unfortunately none of his plans cover IF meds or procedures.

I do too! They're so complicated. I have so many options that it was hard to even narrow it down to two plans. I still am in shock that his plan covers IF! None of my options do, and I didn't think any would! I'm sorry that your DH's doesn't. This stuff adds up quickly. Sad

lavril · November 2011

MandaS08:
I would go with the second option-if you end up not needing the IUI then you really won't care about the extra expense b/c you'll be pregnant! If you do need IUI's then having the monetary stress removed would be wonderful! The OOP expense of IUI's and IVF is one of the biggests sources of stress to me and my DH. If that wasn't a consideration I think our stress level about IF would be much lower!

You're so right!! I will feel much better with the better plan, even if it costs a bit more. FX I'll only need the maternity coverage!

LilMaggs · November 2011

Having the dizzying array of plans really sucks sometimes. It's always so hard to pick!

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