Our work is about to switch over to a new insurance
provider, and we were hoping that they might have some sort of infertility
coverage, but I guess that’s just too much to ask for. Yet again, fertility
treatments are elective, like cosmetic surgery. Because apparently, having a
kid is equal to getting a boob job, not an actual condition like diabetes.
Yeah, that makes sense. PCOS is a diagnosable, generally treatable condition,
but because it relates to (and often causes) infertility, I’m not covered. Utah
passed a bill last year that was supposed to let those of us who need help to
have kids use the $4000 adoption credit to pay for fertility treatments. The
people working on the bill talked to the major insurance providers, and they
all said they were on board with it. However, EVERY SINGLE ONE of them has
opted out of letting people use it for infertility. We’re hoping that those who
helped get the bill through in the first place will be able to add something
that requires the insurance companies to let us use that money, but we’re not
holding our breath. People just don’t get it. Because the next drug that we are
going to need – Femara – isn’t technically meant for fertility treatments, the
new company will cover that, which will save us about $70 each month we use it.
After that, we’re on our own. A doctor visit starts at around $300, and instead
of a reasonable copay of $35, we have to pay for the whole visit. Each month,
we’ll have to have several doctor visits, for testing at different points of
the cycle. They add up quick! If the Femara doesn’t end up working, we’ll get
into the injectable drugs. Those cost over $1000 a month, and that’s in
addition to even more frequent doctor visits because a small difference in
dosage can mean the whole cycle will or won’t work. Once we’ve done a couple
months of that, the baby thermometer will be back down to $0. If insurance
companies considered infertility an actual condition, even if all they paid for
was doctor visits, we could probably start treatments now.
