IVF.
Well, I didn’t see myself ever having to go through this. But, having said that…
I’ve never seen this movie.
I’m lying. I have.
The IVF coordinator finally got a hold of me. I emailed her early Friday and she emailed back and said she had been out sick. Not sure why the receptionists didn’t share that with me when I was explaining my situation to them. I am all scheduled for my saline sonogram and Trial Transfer ( I capitalized it to make it more important) for June 3rd. May 20th is my nurse consultation. That’s where I will get all my prescriptions, go over the medications, and have the process explained to me.
It’s also when we will Pay All The Money.
So CRM, which is my clinic, also has ART (Advanced Reproductive Technologies) which is the IVF part of the clinic. It’s like CRM’s badass big brother. It also is out-of-network. It’s CRM’s badass big brother who charges an ungodly fee for admittance into his special club.
We have to pay for the cycle upfront at this nurse consult and then after the transfer we will send in the forms for the reimbursement. So with the retrieval and transfer and embryo freezing, we will owe about $8,500 upfront. That baby is going on a credit card. After we are reimbursed, we would have paid around $4,000 out of pocket. It could be worse. There are so many who don’t have any insurance coverage.
My medications are still covered under a different fertility plan, and my ultrasounds and office visits will still be billed under insurance, so those have the usual co-pays.
Right now I just wait for my period to come and then I will call the clinic for instructions of when to start the birth control pills and antibiotic. Then it will be here before I know it! (If I don’t go broke in the meantime).
This is exciting! I can't wait to read all about this! You are so lucky to have coverage that pays for IF stuff.
Dealing with insurance sucks regardless of coverage, so I hope the process is simple. Hang in there!
It's so exciting that you are taking this step. Yay for progress and insurance coverage! Thinking of you!
You sound so relaxed! That's awesome. Jealous of your coverage as we struggle to come up $30k for CCRM. What state are you in?
We're in a similar situation, it's great to have insurance coverage, but frustrating as you have to play by their rules. I'm so excited for you as you move on to this next step, yes you're in it to win it!
Welcome to the club! (That you never wanted to be a part of) 🙂
Well you do have coverage so that's a positive. I'm not quite where you are yet but so scary to take that step! You got this though.
That's good you have some insurance coverage. I don't have one cent covered. Every stinkin baseline u/s, follicle scan, or lining scan has cost me $225 up front. The other day I counted over 20!! That's A LOT of money on just that alone! 🙁 Good luck and I'm thinking about you!!
So exciting. And I think most women go through a little moment before IVF of "wow…so it's come to this"…I know I did! You can do this!
Yay!! Good luck with the transfer!
You are lucky you have some coverage for IVF! We have pretty good health benefits but any procedure that manipulates an egg is not covered in any way. Guess I better work on getting a credit card, gulp!
Yeah, the sticker shock for IVF is always fun. My one fresh cycle was $12K upfront, not including meds. All out of pocket (WA state is one of many states that doesn't mandate fertility treatment coverage). Each of our FETs was $3-4K. Look at it this way: outside of major purchases like a home or new car, there is no way you'll ever panic about moderate level purchases again. When people start trying to scare you about how expensive raising a child is, it will be like water off a duck's back.
Glad to hear that you heard from the IVF coordinator. Digits are crossed for this upcoming cycle.
so jealous of your insurance coverage. I never used to carry any debt on my credits cards. Now…well, that's a whole different story. And that's after paying the base IVF fee in cash because they offered a discount for doing that. It will all be worth it in the end. Even if I spent my kids college funds before they were even conceived.
Best of luck, Risa! Looking forward to stalking you along the way, and hearing the good news at the end of it all! 🙂
Good luck! The money part plain sucks. And it is amazing how it differs so much by location. It will be worth it in the end though!
I'm so excited to follow along!
Ooof! Talk about sticker shock.
Good luck!
"I've never seen this movie. I'm lying. I have."
HAHA! You crack me up.
I am so happy about your level of coverage for IVF. I have never heard of someone paying that "little" out of pocket for IVF. BUT I don't want you to take that as me minimizing the expense. It's still a lot of money to pay for something that should be free. There goes the vacation fund, the new car fund, the remodeling fund, etc…but it's so, so worth it…as if you didn't know that already.
$8500 seemed like a low amount for IVF, until you mentioned the u/s being bird separately to insurance. Then it made more sense. Even though you have to jump through a few hoops to get it, I am so happy for you that you have coverage. And a bit jealous 🙂
You've already had your meeting with the nurse, so I look forward to catching up and reading about it.