Yesterday, I read about Megan's IF coverage being "maxed out". It got me thinking about my own. In the beginning, I didn't look too much into it because the idea of hitting our limit seemed so far off in the future. As we get further and further into this, especially after a "wasted" IVF last cycle, I figured I should check it out.
The insurance I'm currently on covers a maximum of 6 IVF cycles. This is based on medication, so it does not include FET. So we are at 2. It is a bit of a relief to know that we have those frozen embryos, so we have the possibility of some tries that don't use up our coverage... but I really, really want more than one baby, so chances are we will eventually have to do this again....
Money has always made me crazy. It is my #1 anxiety inducer. But to be perfectly honest... it shouldn't be anymore. III's family is pretty well off, and he had a good chunk of savings before we got married. If our insurance did max out, we would likely have the means to pay for the treatments.
(I'm cringing as I'm typing this. I know some of you probably hate me for it- I can't imagine what you are going through, struggling to scrape together money for treatments, or worse having to make the difficult decision to take a break or completely stop, solely based on financial issues.... keep reading, though... I address this more at the end...)
It also got me thinking about what happens when we finally do get pregnant. Right now, I have my insurance and III has his- a "family" plan is the same amount where there are two or ten of us, so since we both have insurance benefits with our job, we're currently separate. But once there's another of us, we'll likely get a family plan. The thing is... who's insurance??? I definitely have better insurance than III. BUT any maternity leave I take that is not covered by my contract (which is only six weeks) I will have to pay the whole premium for my insurance. I don't know how much time I'll want to take... so it seems to make sense to go with III's insurance, even though it doesn't cover as much stuff. (In general, not IF.)
I don't, however, know what his insurance allows for IF treatments. We live in one of the states that mandates insurance, so I know something would be covered, but don't know how much. Plus, is IF considered a pre-existing condition? So complicated.
I almost didn't create this post, because I feel like such a whiner considering how many of you ladies out there are dealing with IF that is not covered by insurance. So I did a little research... http://www.resolve.org/ is an organization that deals with infertility issues- there are suggestions and help on there for how to make ART "more affordable", but also there is information about how to contribute to the cause of getting IF coverage nationwide. There are currently two Family Building Acts out there- HR 697 and S 1258- that would require insurers to cover infertility treatment. You can find more information on them, and see how you, as a voter and citizen, can contribute here.
The insurance I'm currently on covers a maximum of 6 IVF cycles. This is based on medication, so it does not include FET. So we are at 2. It is a bit of a relief to know that we have those frozen embryos, so we have the possibility of some tries that don't use up our coverage... but I really, really want more than one baby, so chances are we will eventually have to do this again....
Money has always made me crazy. It is my #1 anxiety inducer. But to be perfectly honest... it shouldn't be anymore. III's family is pretty well off, and he had a good chunk of savings before we got married. If our insurance did max out, we would likely have the means to pay for the treatments.
(I'm cringing as I'm typing this. I know some of you probably hate me for it- I can't imagine what you are going through, struggling to scrape together money for treatments, or worse having to make the difficult decision to take a break or completely stop, solely based on financial issues.... keep reading, though... I address this more at the end...)
It also got me thinking about what happens when we finally do get pregnant. Right now, I have my insurance and III has his- a "family" plan is the same amount where there are two or ten of us, so since we both have insurance benefits with our job, we're currently separate. But once there's another of us, we'll likely get a family plan. The thing is... who's insurance??? I definitely have better insurance than III. BUT any maternity leave I take that is not covered by my contract (which is only six weeks) I will have to pay the whole premium for my insurance. I don't know how much time I'll want to take... so it seems to make sense to go with III's insurance, even though it doesn't cover as much stuff. (In general, not IF.)
I don't, however, know what his insurance allows for IF treatments. We live in one of the states that mandates insurance, so I know something would be covered, but don't know how much. Plus, is IF considered a pre-existing condition? So complicated.
I almost didn't create this post, because I feel like such a whiner considering how many of you ladies out there are dealing with IF that is not covered by insurance. So I did a little research... http://www.resolve.org/ is an organization that deals with infertility issues- there are suggestions and help on there for how to make ART "more affordable", but also there is information about how to contribute to the cause of getting IF coverage nationwide. There are currently two Family Building Acts out there- HR 697 and S 1258- that would require insurers to cover infertility treatment. You can find more information on them, and see how you, as a voter and citizen, can contribute here.
1 comment:
i also have insurance coverage that maxes out at 6 IVF's for a lifetime, but DOES count FET's. I tried to opt out of using my frozen embies this cycle to do a fresh cycle (better odds) but insurance said i HAD to use them before i could get approved for another fresh cycle. i want 4 kids, and i know IVF won't work everytime, so at some point i may have to pay out of pocket, i guess. i think my biggest fear is going through all 6 cycles without having a child from any of them.
i think we live near each other....
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