Infertility Treatment Insurance Options: Take 1

Recently, my husband and I decided it was time for us to get started on expanding our family. However as the title of the post implies, we’ll have some difficulty doing so naturally. Today I set out to find more information on insurance plans that cover infertility since my husband’s employer does not cover treatment at this time.

I’m a little sad, because of the possibility of this situation being harder than I imagined. After all I’ve read numerous infertility blogs over the years to understand the pain the women go through when trying to conceive. And, I would be lying if I didn’t admit to thinking “what if we had children right after we got married?” But I know better, I’ve enjoyed the last 5 years together kid free. Seriously. LOL

So where do we go from here?

Employer/Group Insurance Plan

Well his insurance doesn’t cover treatment, something about only covering medically necessary procedures so I guess trying to have a baby with faulty plumbing doesn’t count. The head of HR from hubby’s job said that at this time they don’t offer such a plan and there isn’t the possibility of adding on a supplemental plan either. So there’s that.

I could have joined my previous employer’s plan that covered treatment earlier this year but I had no intention of continuing with them past September and since we won’t try until next year….well you get my point.

That said, I had my new job lined up from earlier this year (unbeknownst to my last employer) and I believe their health insurance benefits cover fertility treatments but with the open season coming up there and my new hire status I should know something soon.

Private/Individual Plans

We are still looking into this option but so far that is a no go. Something about pre-existing conditions which I’d thought was covered with the new ObamaCare (again excuse my sarcasm) but apparently not. I really haven’t researched this fully so forgive my ignorance.

Self-Pay

This seems to be the most promising option which will cost us around $12,000 if we go with Shady Grove Fertility. I do need to get back with my GYN, who is also a fertility specialist to find out the total cost with his shop as I would prefer to go through this process with them since we have an established relationship. Since we don’t want to start trying until late Summer 2011 we will exhaust all other options until then and if necessary drop the $12k needed. At which point, we will go for twins This is a one time deal and the shop will be locked after this experience.

Financing

Of course, the fertility clinic pushed their financing options on us but I am not open to financing $12k at this time. I would rather pull the money from savings or create a separate savings fund for it. Sure it means we could start IVF cycles sooner but I am really not trying to get into more debt trying to have a baby.

I think that’s it for now. I need to go sit in a corner some where and process all of this. Of course, some of my questions revolve around the lack of insurance options and how do everyday people pay for this since I see so many women going through what seems like multiple cycles.

If you have any information or resources to share, please do, I’d be happy to look them over

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GingerGirls Just Wanna Have Funds is a personal finance website dedicated to educating and empowering women in the area of personal finance. Our articles center on money management: making it, saving it and growing it which supports our theme: Breaking Financial Ceilings One Stiletto At A Time. We have been featured in Business Insider (contributor), Lifehacker, Consumerist, MSNBC, Essence, Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America and MSN Project Engage Web Series. I believe in a future where women can have financial freedom and choose the life they want to live by taking control of their finances. You only need to want it hard enough while letting go of limiting beliefs around money. Join me as I share tips that will help you light up your financial life and take control.View all posts by Ginger →

Sara

So basically its a discounted plan through United Health Care. You would have to buy an individual plan then ask to be enrolled in the Elite program which offers an IVF discount plan called Parents Steps https://www.myoptumhealthparentsteps.com/ParentSt…. I am not sure if you are going to do IVF initially or do other types of treatments. But you may not need IVF. Other treatments are much cheaper. But what I got from them today was that it can cost from 6000 to 8000. Also there is new procedure now called mini IVF and there are places like in PA that do it for much less. Good Luck!
Ginger

Please do share once you find out. We are still looking at our options as far as insurance is concerned.
http://www.sheknowsfinance.com Valerie

Unfortunately the pre-existing conditions thing doesn't go into effect for three more years (or maybe four). it'll be great when it does, but for now, still stuck.

Some states require health insurance to cover IVF or other infertility treatemtn: Arkansas, Montana,California, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York , Hawaii, Ohio, Illinois, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, West Virginia, Massachusetts

Maryland is on that list! You live in the DC area… anyway you can leverage this? You would save (literally) THOUSANDS.

Sara

So I do have coverage but because my husband had a vasectomy I wont be covered. So i searched and searched and found out that United HealthCare offers a discount plan if you purchase their insurance. I am waiting for more information but the rep stated that the discount plan they offer can save 10 to 60 %. I can share more later once he provides with more info.

jaime

If you have thew option for a flexible spending account for medical through your employer use that. Some of this may have changed with obamacare, but we were able to set aside most of our costs through my husband’s. It was pre-tax money and taken out of our paycheck throughout the year. But we could use it whenever we needed it. The only caveat was that if its not all used by the end of the year you lose it. That was never a problem as we went through the process. Best wishes to you. We have a precious 4 year old we had through ivf.

Gingerlatte

Thanks I'll look into that. We'll probably get started in January since the end of the year is almost here.

http://www.twitter.com/meikame Tameika

First, Congratulations on making the decision on children! I have enjoyed your thoughtful posts and tweets about this subject since it is near and dear to my heart. We're not just TTC, but like you, I'm researching and learning about the process. I'm sorry to hear that it won't be "natural" for you guys, but I trust that you will be blessed with a bundle or bundles (lol) of joy very soon. Thank you for sharing this process with again. So many times people don't plan for potential detours and I thank you for educating me as well as so many others. Best of luck to you and your husband!

Gingerlatte

Thank you for your kind words. I am such a private person that I hesitated several times before publishing this post. It's been written for about a week or so now but we've known that IVF would be the way we have to go since August/September.

We definitely didnt plan for the detour but my GYN has long suspected that something was wrong but I didnt want to talk about it. But Ill post about how it came to be that we would need IVF in the post after this.