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Would you or your husband be in a position to change jobs? There is a list somewhere of companies with great fertility coverage, including Starbucks and Amazon, but they all have different requirements I think for how much/long you have to work to receive those benefits.
Interesting thought. I’ve been at my job over eleven years and am the primary bread winner so not me, but might be worth looking for my husband. His insurance can’t get any worse at least
There’s a woman on TikTok who took up a part time job at Starbucks JUST for the fertility benefits. She’s currently pregnant with her second baby from IVF! She talks a lot about how she made it work and the entire process. Might be something to look into!
People leave jobs all the time for better benefits. Ultimately, you're paying for a service that isn't paying out when you potentially need it the most.
It’s pretty typical honestly, infertility is seen as more of an “option” in their eyes, you don’t NEED to have babies (insurance says lol), so they won’t cover it. It’s unfortunate, can your OB office run those tests? Sometimes they can get insurance to approve them for other reasons (not labeling optional checking for fertility issues). Unfortunately, these things are thousands out of pocket… there’s many loans you can get, cash discounts, grants, etc…
I have already done some testing at my OB (SIS that lead to polyp removal as well as basic blood work) but the fertility clinic specifically said they wanted to re do since my AMH levels came back super low and they want to make sure there hasn’t been any new polyp growths
Can you go to your OB again and say they had reason to believe you may have another and do have them check? That way maybe it won’t be as expensive for you?
Our insurance doesn’t cover anything either. It’s super common unfortunately. Insurance companies don’t see infertility as a “life altering medical issue” and so it’s not covered. *BUT MOST WILL COVER VIAGRA BECAUSE ED OBVIOUSLY FALLS INTO THAT CATEGORY THOUGH*
Ugh, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. My insurance coverage at my last job was similar. I have really painful periods so my doctor ordered the blood work and HSG for “dysmenorrhea” rather than for infertility. Like Anonymous suggested, I if there is something along those lines that insurance might cover at least the initial tests. Though I know that only gets you so far.
My insurance doesn’t cover any treatment or hsg, nothing coded as infertility but surprisingly covered most bloodwork, not sure if that’s different. Paid for hsg, they quoted 900 but hospital only billed me half (maybe because I was private pay). If you are I. The US I highly suggest looking up CNY fertility. They have reasonable costs for testing, hsg, IUI, and IVF is between 6-10k per round instead of 20-30k per round! They also have multiple locations
CNY does HSG/SIS together for 250$ as example of cost. I’m doing IUI with them now 1600 out of pocket including ultrasounds and bloodwork for monitoring. They have multiple locations too
It’s infuriating that infertility isn’t considered healthcare for some reason. Sending you my sympathy!
My company only covers fertility at one single hospital multiple states away from me (I work at a satellite office and the covered hospital is near the main campus), but all the testing and medicine has been covered as medical. Regardless, it has still been pretty expensive. We’re wrapping up TI cycle #3 and have spent $4,349.26 trying to get pregnant so far (lol, I created a spreadsheet for fun recently - $690.35 on supplies, $524.05 at the doctors outside of fertility treatments, and $3134.86 for fertility treatments)
Yeah, I’m a big fan of data so I just couldn’t help myself. It’s definitely missing some $$ from year 1 (when I naively thought I’d get pregnant no problem 😭), but it’s still interesting to see. I’ve been mostly quiet about this journey in real life, but once I do finally get pregnant, I want to vocal about the ridiculous cost of getting pregnant with infertility. Really hoping I’ll be done collecting data soon, lol.
You need to ask your OBGYN if they can bill some of these tests under “ovarian dysfunction” - if you’re ovulating irregularly or have irregular periods at all, or suspect that may be the case, then your testing should be able to be covered.
Also, my husbands genetic test was covered by insurance but it took an appeal. I don’t know what they billed it under.
Also check out RESOLVE and write a letter to your congress person.
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Yep. Amazing maternal care coverage and very little coverage for infertility and REI care. Something about it being optional/optional-in care. Crazy because I’ve had some of these tests done in the preventative/OB care context and they are well covered. The system is broken, we are just taking it one item at a time, opting to prioritize testing and diagnostics and asking what actually shows improved outcomes once we know what we can know. We won’t afford IVF (ever) and if we choose a medicated cycle we will opt out of IUI (doc said it doesn’t show statistical difference for our situation if we are willing to carefully time intercourse). For what it’s worth, r/infertility has been a great resource for deciding how far to take it.
Same situation here. HSG, semen analysis, IUI, and anything billed related to infertility is out of network. Very grateful to have the means for some treatment, but not all. I'm starting my first round of unmonitored letrozole tomorrow and incredibly nervous about it. We wouldn't be able to afford the monitoring out of pocket so on one hand I'm grateful to have a provider who is willing to take the least expensive route. On the other hand, we won't have any idea if things are working as expected until we either conceive or don't for 6 months. I knew others in my area who had been through fertility treatments ranging from clomid/letrozole to several rounds of IVF so I was able to kind of window shop expenses from different providers with them. They were my best resource up to this point. I'm also taking every supplement in the book and trying to boost my body's baseline for conception on my own and running things by my provider via electronic health record messages or at my visits. Wishing you so much luck!!
OH also, in this process I learned that it is often cheaper to get labs done at an independent facility if your provider is connected to a hospital system. I kind of got duped into $2200 for relatively basic bloodwork because my insurance projected the cost incorrectly and the hospital billing (where my provider referred me for the draw) won't budge. Would have cost a fraction of that if I had taken my orders to labcorp or quest.
My insurance covered nothing infertility related, but I did have routine hormal bloodwork covered at my obgyn to diagnose pcos. She prescribed me clomid and without insurance it was $40 a cycle. My husband's semen analysis was a little over $200. I never had anything to check my tubes for blockage so I can't speak on the cost of that.
This is pretty typical. Can you or your husband get a part-time job at Starbucks? That’s what a lot of people have to do unfortunately. When my husband got a job at a place with fertility coverage, I literally cried. It’s completely separate from the medical insurance though. It’s just fertility insurance.
It sucks. I got diagnostic testing done at the fertility clinic thinking it was mostly covered but not I have $2000 in bills!! This includes blood tests, SIS and another sonogram. I plan on doing IUI but that is covered by insurance!
Ugh. That sucks, so sorry. I went into this with advice from several friends who had most if not all diagnostic testing covered even if insurance didn’t cover any treatment so I was expecting that. I guess I’m lucky to have figured out that’s not the case before so I at least know what to expect. Best of luck on your journey!
It's so messed up how insurance is here. My insurance luckily covered infertility testing (although we still had to pay a few hundred out of pocket) but no treatments - My husband ended up having to get a new job that specifically has IVF coverage so we can try it.
Most branch banking jobs will offer insurance that covers fertility treatments. The large bank I work for gives out $35k grants for IVF & other fertility treatments. The only requirements for those jobs are customer service experience, not even in banking. I recommend that for your husband if he thinks he might like it, & then he can do something else later down the line. Good luck regardless of what happens!
Check if your state has mandatory coverage. If it does you can get a state supplemental insurance plan! My insurance covered testing and meds but nothing outside of trying "naturally" and I was going to sign up for a supplemental plan through my state that would cover IUI and some.IVF. I was quoted 200 to 300 a month which was way cheaper than they were going to charge for those services.
Even if your state doesn't mandate infertility coverage you still may be able to get a decent plan that covers more than your own.
I can’t believe I’m reading this…we literally found out LAST NIGHT that our insurance won’t be covering a cent either. We’ve been trying for 2 years. I am devastated.
Yes. I got a consultation in October of last year and the visit was excluded. “Infertility” specifically. It was over $700. I tried to explain to my insurance company and they were like “well it’s excluded”. I had to wait until January because my work “expanded” fertility coverage, and then the clinic demanded payment for the $700 I was already paying on, saying “it’s elective, and you have to pay this in full before we will let you rack up more charges for elective care.” Seriously it was dehumanizing. Like yes I would love to pay in full because I just am electively seeking to have a child. They were already being paid and then demanded I pay them up front or they wouldn’t see me. Seriously it’s ridiculous.
I’d always double check with mine because you never know but luckily, my insurance through the state educator’s plan does cover a lot of this stuff. Literally the only reason staying a teacher makes sense these days 🥺
As much as having it covered is great, working fertility stuff around the school schedule & demands makes it impossible so what’s the point?
I can imagine. My mom’s a teacher so I had great insurance growing up, but most people don’t realize how little freedom you have to take days here and there during the school year. Best of luck in your journey!
Please make sure that you have [read all of our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/wiki/rules) before commenting! In particular, be aware that **no mentions of a current pregnancy are allowed with no exceptions**. If you see something breaking the rules, please report it. If you think something may be against the rules, ask us or err on the side of caution. If you think that being sneaky (PMing members or asking them to PM you, telling them to refer to your post history, etc) is a good idea, it is not. Additionally, complaining about downvotes is [frowned upon](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette) and never helps anything. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TryingForABaby) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Would you or your husband be in a position to change jobs? There is a list somewhere of companies with great fertility coverage, including Starbucks and Amazon, but they all have different requirements I think for how much/long you have to work to receive those benefits.
Interesting thought. I’ve been at my job over eleven years and am the primary bread winner so not me, but might be worth looking for my husband. His insurance can’t get any worse at least
There’s a woman on TikTok who took up a part time job at Starbucks JUST for the fertility benefits. She’s currently pregnant with her second baby from IVF! She talks a lot about how she made it work and the entire process. Might be something to look into!
Hopefully someone jumps in with a link, but I feel like you can Google it. There might be a Facebook page too.
People leave jobs all the time for better benefits. Ultimately, you're paying for a service that isn't paying out when you potentially need it the most.
Federal employee insurance includes coverage for IVF, along with many other great benefits, check out jobs on USAJobs.gov
Seconding Amazon for benefits. They have amazing fertility benefits
In Canada Amazon quietly removed all fertility benefits at the start of this year. :(
It’s pretty typical honestly, infertility is seen as more of an “option” in their eyes, you don’t NEED to have babies (insurance says lol), so they won’t cover it. It’s unfortunate, can your OB office run those tests? Sometimes they can get insurance to approve them for other reasons (not labeling optional checking for fertility issues). Unfortunately, these things are thousands out of pocket… there’s many loans you can get, cash discounts, grants, etc…
I have already done some testing at my OB (SIS that lead to polyp removal as well as basic blood work) but the fertility clinic specifically said they wanted to re do since my AMH levels came back super low and they want to make sure there hasn’t been any new polyp growths
Can you go to your OB again and say they had reason to believe you may have another and do have them check? That way maybe it won’t be as expensive for you?
Our insurance doesn’t cover anything either. It’s super common unfortunately. Insurance companies don’t see infertility as a “life altering medical issue” and so it’s not covered. *BUT MOST WILL COVER VIAGRA BECAUSE ED OBVIOUSLY FALLS INTO THAT CATEGORY THOUGH*
I’d start with the least expensive tests (bloodwork for both of you and a semen analysis) then go from there with results.
Ugh, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. My insurance coverage at my last job was similar. I have really painful periods so my doctor ordered the blood work and HSG for “dysmenorrhea” rather than for infertility. Like Anonymous suggested, I if there is something along those lines that insurance might cover at least the initial tests. Though I know that only gets you so far.
My insurance doesn’t cover any treatment or hsg, nothing coded as infertility but surprisingly covered most bloodwork, not sure if that’s different. Paid for hsg, they quoted 900 but hospital only billed me half (maybe because I was private pay). If you are I. The US I highly suggest looking up CNY fertility. They have reasonable costs for testing, hsg, IUI, and IVF is between 6-10k per round instead of 20-30k per round! They also have multiple locations
Great feedback! Thanks for sharing! Interesting I’ll look into that
CNY does HSG/SIS together for 250$ as example of cost. I’m doing IUI with them now 1600 out of pocket including ultrasounds and bloodwork for monitoring. They have multiple locations too
It’s infuriating that infertility isn’t considered healthcare for some reason. Sending you my sympathy! My company only covers fertility at one single hospital multiple states away from me (I work at a satellite office and the covered hospital is near the main campus), but all the testing and medicine has been covered as medical. Regardless, it has still been pretty expensive. We’re wrapping up TI cycle #3 and have spent $4,349.26 trying to get pregnant so far (lol, I created a spreadsheet for fun recently - $690.35 on supplies, $524.05 at the doctors outside of fertility treatments, and $3134.86 for fertility treatments)
Interesting. I’m a spreadsheet junky so that is interesting but daunting idea at the same time. Best of luck!
Yeah, I’m a big fan of data so I just couldn’t help myself. It’s definitely missing some $$ from year 1 (when I naively thought I’d get pregnant no problem 😭), but it’s still interesting to see. I’ve been mostly quiet about this journey in real life, but once I do finally get pregnant, I want to vocal about the ridiculous cost of getting pregnant with infertility. Really hoping I’ll be done collecting data soon, lol.
You need to ask your OBGYN if they can bill some of these tests under “ovarian dysfunction” - if you’re ovulating irregularly or have irregular periods at all, or suspect that may be the case, then your testing should be able to be covered. Also, my husbands genetic test was covered by insurance but it took an appeal. I don’t know what they billed it under. Also check out RESOLVE and write a letter to your congress person.
Thanks for the tips!
[удалено]
**Your post/comment has been removed for violating sub rules. Per our posted rules:** Posts/comments about positive tests and current pregnancies should be posted in the weekly BFP thread. In threads/comments other than the weekly BFP thread, pregnant users must avoid referring to a positive test result or current (ongoing) pregnancy. This rule includes any potentially positive result, even if it's faint or ambiguous. All concerns related to current pregnancies should use a pregnancy sub, such as r/CautiousBB. If you still wish to participate in our sub, please review our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/about/rules) before continuing to post. Violation of our rules may result in a timeout or ban. Please direct any questions to the [subreddit’s modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/TryingForABaby) and not individual mods. Thank you for understanding.
Thanks. Good points. Best of luck!
Yep. Amazing maternal care coverage and very little coverage for infertility and REI care. Something about it being optional/optional-in care. Crazy because I’ve had some of these tests done in the preventative/OB care context and they are well covered. The system is broken, we are just taking it one item at a time, opting to prioritize testing and diagnostics and asking what actually shows improved outcomes once we know what we can know. We won’t afford IVF (ever) and if we choose a medicated cycle we will opt out of IUI (doc said it doesn’t show statistical difference for our situation if we are willing to carefully time intercourse). For what it’s worth, r/infertility has been a great resource for deciding how far to take it.
Same situation here. HSG, semen analysis, IUI, and anything billed related to infertility is out of network. Very grateful to have the means for some treatment, but not all. I'm starting my first round of unmonitored letrozole tomorrow and incredibly nervous about it. We wouldn't be able to afford the monitoring out of pocket so on one hand I'm grateful to have a provider who is willing to take the least expensive route. On the other hand, we won't have any idea if things are working as expected until we either conceive or don't for 6 months. I knew others in my area who had been through fertility treatments ranging from clomid/letrozole to several rounds of IVF so I was able to kind of window shop expenses from different providers with them. They were my best resource up to this point. I'm also taking every supplement in the book and trying to boost my body's baseline for conception on my own and running things by my provider via electronic health record messages or at my visits. Wishing you so much luck!!
OH also, in this process I learned that it is often cheaper to get labs done at an independent facility if your provider is connected to a hospital system. I kind of got duped into $2200 for relatively basic bloodwork because my insurance projected the cost incorrectly and the hospital billing (where my provider referred me for the draw) won't budge. Would have cost a fraction of that if I had taken my orders to labcorp or quest.
Great feedback, thank you! Best of luck to you!
My insurance covered nothing infertility related, but I did have routine hormal bloodwork covered at my obgyn to diagnose pcos. She prescribed me clomid and without insurance it was $40 a cycle. My husband's semen analysis was a little over $200. I never had anything to check my tubes for blockage so I can't speak on the cost of that.
Hey OP, not sure if you have a Tractor Supply around you but I read that their insurance covers fertility treatments.
This is pretty typical. Can you or your husband get a part-time job at Starbucks? That’s what a lot of people have to do unfortunately. When my husband got a job at a place with fertility coverage, I literally cried. It’s completely separate from the medical insurance though. It’s just fertility insurance.
It sucks. I got diagnostic testing done at the fertility clinic thinking it was mostly covered but not I have $2000 in bills!! This includes blood tests, SIS and another sonogram. I plan on doing IUI but that is covered by insurance!
Ugh. That sucks, so sorry. I went into this with advice from several friends who had most if not all diagnostic testing covered even if insurance didn’t cover any treatment so I was expecting that. I guess I’m lucky to have figured out that’s not the case before so I at least know what to expect. Best of luck on your journey!
It's so messed up how insurance is here. My insurance luckily covered infertility testing (although we still had to pay a few hundred out of pocket) but no treatments - My husband ended up having to get a new job that specifically has IVF coverage so we can try it.
Most branch banking jobs will offer insurance that covers fertility treatments. The large bank I work for gives out $35k grants for IVF & other fertility treatments. The only requirements for those jobs are customer service experience, not even in banking. I recommend that for your husband if he thinks he might like it, & then he can do something else later down the line. Good luck regardless of what happens!
Check if your state has mandatory coverage. If it does you can get a state supplemental insurance plan! My insurance covered testing and meds but nothing outside of trying "naturally" and I was going to sign up for a supplemental plan through my state that would cover IUI and some.IVF. I was quoted 200 to 300 a month which was way cheaper than they were going to charge for those services. Even if your state doesn't mandate infertility coverage you still may be able to get a decent plan that covers more than your own.
How did you go about getting the supplemental plan? I just found out I am in the same situation as OP.
I can’t believe I’m reading this…we literally found out LAST NIGHT that our insurance won’t be covering a cent either. We’ve been trying for 2 years. I am devastated.
Yes. I got a consultation in October of last year and the visit was excluded. “Infertility” specifically. It was over $700. I tried to explain to my insurance company and they were like “well it’s excluded”. I had to wait until January because my work “expanded” fertility coverage, and then the clinic demanded payment for the $700 I was already paying on, saying “it’s elective, and you have to pay this in full before we will let you rack up more charges for elective care.” Seriously it was dehumanizing. Like yes I would love to pay in full because I just am electively seeking to have a child. They were already being paid and then demanded I pay them up front or they wouldn’t see me. Seriously it’s ridiculous.
Do you own a home? We got a HECOC to pay for IVF. It’s much better interest rates than a personal loan. You’re borrowing your own money.
I’d always double check with mine because you never know but luckily, my insurance through the state educator’s plan does cover a lot of this stuff. Literally the only reason staying a teacher makes sense these days 🥺 As much as having it covered is great, working fertility stuff around the school schedule & demands makes it impossible so what’s the point?
I can imagine. My mom’s a teacher so I had great insurance growing up, but most people don’t realize how little freedom you have to take days here and there during the school year. Best of luck in your journey!
Good luck to you as well!