Reproductive Endocrinologist - monitoring hours questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you both for the input! Seems like it's not unusual for this to happen. I never would have thought of this.

12:32 - I am currently under Federal BCBS with no IVF coverage. So I'm assuming yout paid OOP for IVF with your clinic in NJ? SG definitely helped you out with billing. They will cover monitoring and blood if it's billed as timed intercourse or as a complication...but as soon as the insurance knows you are doing ART, the won't cover anything.

I just imagine this is going to be a pain in the butt - my head is spinning - but thank you SOOOO much for the suggestions. I think this can work out. Maybe my NY clinic can order my meds while I'm in NY and I can just bring everything down to VA. I'm so glad I found this website! Now I have to figure out which clinic to use in VA. I was thinking about getting a consult with Marci Cook just because she's close to where I'll be living. But since SG and Dominion are already on board with dealing with this type of situation, maybe it's best to schedule consults with them. Stress!

I'm 12:32. Yes, it could be because when I started out I was doing timed intercourse and it just kept getting billed that way, but I have heard of other people on here who have had BCBS Federal and report they had $40 copays for monitoring. Who knows! Yes, I did do one cycle OOP with the NJ clinic but I also got on a plan through my husband's grad school that paid for some other cycles of IVF. FWIW, I didn't do a consult with SG before getting set up to be an outside patient. I don't think they require that. I just called the main office and told them what I wanted to do and they helped me get set up.

[Anonymous]

No way! You didn't even have to do a consult? I can't begin to tell you how incredibly helped you have been. I never, ever would have thought to do this. I'm going to call my doc this week and see what he says. My husband and I are both federal employees, so unfortunately I'm out of luck for another insurance plan. I should be able to switch to the NY plan - GHI-and my IVF should be covered. Worst comes to worse, I'll be paying OOP for the monitoring at SG. I already have my mind made up that I'll be using SG since you had such a good experience. Thanks so much! If you have any other additional thoughts about your experience, please let me know!

[Anonymous]

Just one thing to think about -- what are you going to do when you get pregnant if your insurance is in NY?

Dominion does not do appointments for monitoring, at least not in Arlington. I am usually in and out in less than 30 minutes, many times less.

[Anonymous]

I'm 20:51. Other posters have suggested Dominion, so definitely check them out as well. For me it was all about where I could get to via public transportation, and if Dominion is easier for you, don't rule it out. Another thing to note is that SGF doesn't do pregnancy ultrasounds. I did get pregnant (but miscarried) but had to do ultrasounds at Community Radiology. If Dominion provides that service, that could be a reason to go with them. Regarding appointments, SG does prefer that you make one. But there were times I didn't learn I needed to go the next day until too late to make one, and they were always very flexible about fitting me in. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to help. It can be stressful doing this far away from your main clinic, but if it is a significant cost savings, it could be worth it.

[Anonymous]

4:45 - thank gooddness I found this forum because I didn't think of that either! I'll have no insurance if I'm pregnant I'm VA. However, I read I can change my insurance back to BCBS even if it's not open season. This is a tad complicated. I'm stressed out again. Not sure what I'm going to do.

19:03 - thank you for your suggestions.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the OOP rate is for IVF. I'm guessing 20K+....and I'm wondering how much it costs to freeze embryos and how much the transfer would be if IVF 1 didn't work. Ugh, this is nuts. I'm super stressed out.

[Anonymous]

4:45 poster here. Sorry to stress you out. Would it be possible for your husband to get a plan that covers you in VA while you get the individual NY plan? You'd have to crunch the numbers to see if that makes sense rather than paying OOP for IVF.

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm....since we are both federal employees, I don't think we can do that. He could add me to his BCBS since it's open season, but I dont know if I'm allowed to have 2 federal insurance plans. My office is useless. I'm sure they won't know the answer. I'm not even sure who to ask. I'll look into it. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Just found it on the OPM website. I can't be covered under two plans. This is horrible.

[Anonymous]

What is the deal with Dominion monitoring hours? Is it first come first serve? I have a seen a couple posts about how it's chaos and people have to wait outside the clinic?

[Anonymous]

I have federal BCBS and go to shady grove in Annandale. Monitoring appts are as early as 6:45 For labs and 7 for US. I start work at 7:30 and haven't been late (though I work right across the street).

[Anonymous]

Also could you live and work in Maryland? Maryland employers have IVF coverage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered sticking with the current doc in NY and doing monitoring down here? I was in a similar situation and stayed with my NJ doc and did monitoring at Shady Grove. I think both weekday and weekend monitoring hours were the same at K St (like 7:00 to 9:30 or something). If you go to Rockville location I think they go later with monitoring times, but for satellite locations they needed time to transport the blood to Rockville for processing.

I did the same. NY clinics are used to this and it was easy to set up with shady grove.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4:45 - thank gooddness I found this forum because I didn't think of that either! I'll have no insurance if I'm pregnant I'm VA. However, I read I can change my insurance back to BCBS even if it's not open season. This is a tad complicated. I'm stressed out again. Not sure what I'm going to do.

19:03 - thank you for your suggestions.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the OOP rate is for IVF. I'm guessing 20K+....and I'm wondering how much it costs to freeze embryos and how much the transfer would be if IVF 1 didn't work. Ugh, this is nuts. I'm super stressed out.

I think you're looking at 10k for std IVF not including Meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the deal with Dominion monitoring hours? Is it first come first serve? I have a seen a couple posts about how it's chaos and people have to wait outside the clinic?

When I did NCIVF with Dominion in 2014, it was first come first serve. Most of the time I was out in about 10 minutes, but a couple of times it took a lot longer (mostly on weekends, when I, along with a lot of other women, arrived 10 minutes before monitoring hours were over. I never experienced chaos.