Affording IVF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My XH fought to get CS reduced so he could pay for his new wife’s fertility treatments. So there’s that.

I'm sorry, but that is completely awful and I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Wow, what bullshit.

[Anonymous]

We paid out of savings with help from my employer. My lifetime limit for my employer was $20k but didn’t cover meds and some tests. It was enough for 3 IUIs and one IVF. We set a limit going in that we would not spend more than $40k of our own money. I think it’s easy to get caught up in wanting a child and, at least for me, immersing yourself in the online and real life support networks of people wanting the same. I was scared we’d get carried away chasing our dream. If our IVF didn’t work we would have done shared risk or gone overseas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My XH fought to get CS reduced so he could pay for his new wife’s fertility treatments. So there’s that.

What a loser. You're well rid of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My XH fought to get CS reduced so he could pay for his new wife’s fertility treatments. So there’s that.

What a loser. You're well rid of him.

Thanks, I know. Sucks for our remaining minor child though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My XH fought to get CS reduced so he could pay for his new wife’s fertility treatments. So there’s that.

I'm sorry, but that is completely awful and I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Wow, what bullshit.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Dual Fed family here living in DC. We did Shared Risk IVF for #1 with help from family, and Shared Risk FET for #2 on our own. Having already paid for procedures really helped with the anxiety of waiting for results.

[Anonymous]

I purchased the Carefirst Bluechoice gold plan for my IVF this year. I had just moved to the summer before so you definitely only have to be a current resident. Still waiting to finalize my bills, but I paid $385 in med copays, my $1750 deductible, $1800 freeze fee, and maybe a few hundred in copays. The premium was $396 for me as a 31 yo.

[Anonymous]

To the poster ahead of me thank you so much for that info. That is what I am looking for. I think I will possibly start that next year. Silly question... is it a good idea just to purchase this for myself even though I am married? I already have a family plan through my job in dc..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MD has an IVF insurance mandate, so if you a resident there, you may be eligible for insurance that provides coverage for IVF. There may be a one year residency requirement - I vaguely recall looking into this but can't remember. Other threads here indicate who the relevant insurers are, but I am sure someone will chime in.

I am covered through my husband's FED insurance, which does not cover IVF/IUI, and just went to the RE recommended by my OB. Had I explored this forum before, I would probably have gone to Shady Grove, which offers a "shared risk" program (google it) to eligible patients. I recommend you look into this.

I think the company has to be a Maryland-based company. I worked for a company headquartered in Europe, and they didn't have to comply with Maryland's mandate. This was some time ago, so I'm not sure if there have been any changes.

[Anonymous]

I've had too many cycles to count - maybe 9 or 10, so I maxed out most of my benefits and had to come out of pocket for ~$60K.

Some of things we did:

-401K loans
-Fertility Finance loans through Shady Grove
-Used emergency fund savings
-FSA cards (all of the money is available at the beginning of the year

Not ideal financially, but I would do it all over again. I have 3 amazing kids.

[Anonymous]

And if you are a fed and have Aetna insurance, you get Aetna's negotiated rate - which is substantially cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD has an IVF insurance mandate, so if you a resident there, you may be eligible for insurance that provides coverage for IVF. There may be a one year residency requirement - I vaguely recall looking into this but can't remember. Other threads here indicate who the relevant insurers are, but I am sure someone will chime in.

I am covered through my husband's FED insurance, which does not cover IVF/IUI, and just went to the RE recommended by my OB. Had I explored this forum before, I would probably have gone to Shady Grove, which offers a "shared risk" program (google it) to eligible patients. I recommend you look into this.

I think the company has to be a Maryland-based company. I worked for a company headquartered in Europe, and they didn't have to comply with Maryland's mandate. This was some time ago, so I'm not sure if there have been any changes.

You can be an MD resident as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster ahead of me thank you so much for that info. That is what I am looking for. I think I will possibly start that next year. Silly question... is it a good idea just to purchase this for myself even though I am married? I already have a family plan through my job in dc..

My husband and daughter stayed on his insurance through work. His plan is $1500 max OOP per person so it didn't make much sense to get him on a plan where the deductible was more than his current max with higher premiums. Plus, he has a serious genetic disease and never has had issues with coverage so we really didn't want to rock the boat.

I also forgot to point out, my plan was the HMO plan. PPO premiums were much higher. Shady Grove and my current doctors were in network so I figured there was no need to pay for PPO. Although it's HMO, there's no requirement to get a referral to see a specialist (at least for fertility treatments).