Maryland insurance plans for IFV & Shady Grove

[Anonymous]

My wife and I are looking at medical coverage plans to help with our IVF treatments. My employer plan is based out of TX not MD and does not cover IVF, so we’re looking to purchase a secondary plan to help offset costs. We’ve started the prescreening process with SGF and go to our follow-up appointment soon. I’m a little uncertain on what plan to select for our family. The three companies we’ve looked at are CareFirst, Keiser, and Aetna. We would only be using this plan for IVF related costs so we don’t need anything super fancy.

I guess my question for those of you that have used SGF, what plans did you choose and why? Were you happy with the coverage, or have any stories worth sharing about those companies that would help us choose our plan? When selecting a company should we ask about IVF treatments, or will that make them want to reject us?

[Anonymous]

I used the Carefirst Healthy Blue HMO gold plan. I didn't have any issues with getting IVF coverage at all (our diagnosis is MFI). I went ahead and had it as my primary care plan as the premium was high (goes by age, $396 at 31) and all my doctors were in-network with it. Plus, IVF used my deductible so all I've had to pay for my appointments has been Copays. Even with it being an HMO plan, I didn't need any sort of referral to go to Shady Grove. My first IVF cycle was successful and I havent had any issues with the plan at my OBs. I plan on going back to my husband's employer plan next year, though, as my max OOP with them is less than the deductible on my plan this year. From what I've seen, I'm not sure if Aetna offers individual plans in MD, just Carefirst and Kaiser. I went with Carefirst just because I didn't want to have to go to Kaiser during my pregnancy (they're very limited in my area at which hospitals you can deliver at).

[Anonymous]

I bought the CareFirst PPO Gold. Haven’t been to SG but it covered me at two different clinics with no problem.