How 'fertility friendly' is your state? - article

FutureMrsW9 · April 2014

Interesting article for those interested in seeing how your state stacks up. They gave NJ an A, and while I did have a good experience because I'm lucky enough to have insurance that covers IVF, not all plans do. If we were under DH's plan, we would have been completely OOP for IVF, and IUI wasn't even an option for us so we'd be screwed and probably not pregnant right now.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/21/infertility-insurance-by-state_n_5175082.html

indianaalum · April 2014

good article. Did you post it in the infertility section as well?

I am lucky to live in a state that got an A...My IVF was covered 100 percent except for Co-pays thru my hmo

Praying4Miracle17 · April 2014

I live in a "D" state and have paid OOP for both of my IVF's. Makes me want to get involved to try to change it!! Thanks for posting this.

ajlmom · April 2014

Thanks for the article. I'm lucky enough to be in MA and my IVF/FET was 100% covered except for small copay for meds, which I'll be eternally grateful for. I heard people that move from one state to another just to have better insurance coverage for fertility treatment.

absolutelymaybe · April 2014

Thanks for sharing this! I'm posting on my FB as part of NIAW.

Unfortunately, I live in Washington State (a "D" state) and, despite being double covered by both my work and DH's, we were entirely out of pocket after diagnostic testing.

FutureMrsW9 · April 2014

absolutelymaybe I'm assuming NIAW = National Infertility Awareness Week? I didn't even know this existed. Is it this week???

ccam · April 2014

Interest article - thanks for sharing!

I'm lucky enough to live in a state that received an "A", but I find it really sad how few states received that rating.

LSN8308 · April 2014

IL does have good coverage if you are employed by a company that chooses to add IF treatments to their plan. We found out the hard way that some employers find loopholes so they don't have to cover IF. DH used to work for a Catholic hospital in Chicago and they were able to refuse to cover Any IF treatments aside from SOME diagnostic tests because it "conflicted with their religious principles"

FutureMrsW9 · April 2014

@ccam said:

Interest article - thanks for sharing!

I'm lucky enough to live in a state that received an "A", but I find it really sad how few states received that rating.

True story. But I think that even those "A" states have a long way to go. I'm in NJ and we got an A. We do have a state mandate for IF, but it's not specific. They don't necessarily have to cover IVF. In my case, if IVF wasn't covered we would not be pregnant right now because IUI and TI weren't even options for us and we didn't have $20k+ to pay OOP. I happen to have an insurance plan that covers any IF treatments other than the cryo portion but it's only up to a $30k max, so we won't be able to do another full round of IVF. Luckily we have 15 frosties, so hopefully all we'll need is the FET portion, and we should have enough left to cover that one or two more times. If I didn't work and we were under DH's plan, while they do have IF treatments, IVF is not covered so we'd be SOL. So my point....I don't think NJ necessarily deserves an A. Maybe a B-.

Sha259 · April 2014

Ahh deleted!! Wrong board!!!

orange1414 · April 2014

I'm lucky enough to be in Illinois. We definitely would not have been able to do multiple IVFs otherwise.

absolutelymaybe · April 2014

@FutureMrsW9 - Sorry, just saw your response. Yes, National Infertility Awareness Week is this week. https://sites.google.com/site/miscarriageresearch/miscarriage-general

justjinny · April 2014

Wow, I wonder what an "F" state is like! I'm in WI which is rated a "C" and everything after diagnostic tests is OOP, including emergency hospitalization of you develop OHSS or some other side effect since IF medicine is considered "elective" treatment here.

cymber217 · April 2014

I dont really understand this.. if you live in NJ and have health care its automatically covered? Or if you seek treatment there it is? I live in PA and my insurance does not cover IVF. I have good insurance too.

FutureMrsW9 · April 2014

cymber217 Nope, it's not automatically covered, it depends on your plan. The state mandate really just says that you have to have infertility coverage, but it's not specific to what kind of coverage and how much. For instance, DH's plan covers anything up through IUI but not IVF. My plan covers anything IF related, but I have a $30k lifetime max and anything more than that I'm OOP. So not all plans are the same by any means, they just have to have some kind of IF coverage.

indianaalum · April 2014

@cymber217 I dont know if this answers your question, but in illinois the law says that any company over 50 employees has to cover infertility, I believe. I do think there is some religious exclusions, but other than that it is required.

I have been fortunatey to have everything but co-pays covered. Under my policy, I had to do 3 IUI's FIRST before trying iVF, except I was a bad candidate so my doctor had to appeal to go straight to IVF due to my history. The appeal worked thankfjully. Also, my coverage allows me to do unlimited FET and 3 fresh cycles.

The "F" states (I assume) are the states where not only is infertility NOT covered, but there is very few doctors in the state which makes even seeking treatments OOP very difficulty to the extensive travel needing to get to a doctor

beachy6 · April 2014

I live in a B state, however everything was 100% OOP for everything after diagnostics. I've spent more money on fertility treatments than we did for our home and then some. I'd hate to see what a C or lower state must be like if this is what a B state did to us!

BuddhaBarnes · April 2014

I'm in WI, a "C" state and it's been very expensive for us with OOP. After 3 iui's we can only afford one IVF cycle and we are just starting that now.

fingers crossed!

olenkapdx · April 2014

Ugh...just don't read the comments. "Just adopt!" Yeah, why don't you, Mr. or Ms. Wise Commenter With All the Answers?

My state (Oregon) got a C. Sounds about right. We were pretty much completely OOP for everything for our IVF, until a pregnancy was confirmed. Then some tests were covered. At least I got to deduct the expenses from my taxes...sigh....

justjinny · April 2014

olenkapdx said:

Ugh...just don't read the comments. "Just adopt!" Yeah, why don't you, Mr. or Ms. Wise Commenter With All the Answers?

My state (Oregon) got a C. Sounds about right. We were pretty much completely OOP for everything for our IVF, until a pregnancy was confirmed. Then some tests were covered. At least I got to deduct the expenses from my taxes...sigh....

Yeah right, because adoption is such an easy, fast and free option! People think it's such an easy answer but don't really understand all it entails.

I never understand why people feel they can weigh in with their opinion on whether or not IVF should be available. Do they stick their nose into other health care decisions? Do they go around criticizing treatments for cancer, diabetes, blindness or depression?

I really should have stayed away from reading those comments!

FutureMrsW9 · April 2014

@justjinny said:

Yeah right, because adoption is such an easy, fast and free option! People think it's such an easy answer but don't really understand all it entails.

I never understand why people feel they can weigh in with their opinion on whether or not IVF should be available. Do they stick their nose into other health care decisions? Do they go around criticizing treatments for cancer, diabetes, blindness or depression?

I really should have stayed away from reading those comments!

This exactly. Imagine what kind of an uproar would happen if coverage for diabetes or cancer were to stop. Infertility is a disease just like those, people just don't understand it because there isn't enough awareness.

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