Help!!

dannie382 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-18-2007, 09:48 AM

I am on my 3rd round of Femara w/hcg shot on cd 13, my first round did not produce a large enough follicle so no shot, my 2nd round produce 2 follicles but no pregnancy, I am currently on cd 8, I go to the doctors on Monday to check follicle size and possibly get the shot. Anyways my questions is 1 - why the heck is everything so dang expensive? - The u/s is $250, dr visit $90, meds $55 femara and $36 hcg shot. 2 - Has anyone of you come across any type of help to pay for these bills? I called around to different insurance companies to see if they offered supplemental insurance but of course no one does. Anyways sorry so long, I am just so frustrated!! I am 25 my fiancé is 27 his SA was perfect all is good there. My dr. wants to do a laparoscopy but because I was already diagnosed with infertility my insurance will not cover it, but if my dr would have done that first to diagnose me then it would have been covered!! Ugh!!!

that is a $3000 procedure. I am just so frustrated and tired of one disappointment after another, I am not sure how much more I can handle!! I certainly can not afford another round of femara, I can't afford to have the laparoscopy done, I can't afford to see the RE my Dr wants to refer me to. There are currently 4 women (well children) in my family pregnant. I am the only one who is having difficulties!! (I have a big family) I joke and say that I waited to long, I am too old!! I say this because almost everyone has had at least one child by the age of 22. (most recently they are starting at 17) Anyway sorry for the ramblings and venting but thanks for listening!!!

bobandjen · #2 (**permalink**) 07-18-2007, 12:58 PM

I went through some of the same stuff. When I went to my specialist I explained to him that I would have to do what I could afford at the time and that I would need to make some kind of payment arrangements before treatments started. He was able to word my prescriptions and tests as needed things and my insurance covered most all of it. The only thing I had to pay for was the shots. Femara was covered because my doc worded it as a breast cancer drug and not a fertility treatment. Metformin was covered because it was listed as a diabetic drug. And the sonos were worded as needed for cyst checks instead of follie scans. You might ask your doc if he would be willing to "word" things differently for you. I hope this helps.

mommaphoebs · #3 (**permalink**) 07-18-2007, 04:38 PM

I understand the frustration. I had no idea those procedures cost so much. Thankfully in Canada, we don't have to pay for medical care, in most cases, so I'll I pay for is the Femara. I hope your doc can work something out for you! Hang in there!

mommaphoebs · #4 (**permalink**) 07-19-2007, 10:12 AM

OK, I'm dense! Apparently infertility isn't medical! Found out today Femara plus IUI is $500/cycle, Femara plus IUI plus Gonal is $1500-2000/cycle and IVF is $8-11000/cycle! Yikes!

Celi · #5 (**permalink**) 07-19-2007, 11:47 AM

My insurance covers infertility treatments up to $4000 per lifetime (IUIs) but don't cover IVFs, and cover most of the meds... But My doctor puts somethings as other then infertility procedures (for example my HSG test) so I don't end up using my $4000 budget all at once...

Loopy Lou · #6 (**permalink**) 07-20-2007, 04:28 PM

I totally understand how the insurance situation is beyond ridiculous, i love that if we have lung cancer, and caused it ourselfs by smoking we can get coverage, but infertility still a "medical issue" nothing we knowingly caused gets no coverage....Twisted!
My Story with Insurance started in December when I called to make my first appointment with my RE, I was told my current coverage was a discount plan so i was basically going to have to pay for everything including the eventual pregnancy, in a panic i stayed up until the wee hrs of the morning and found a plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield that allowed me to pay extra for a plan that allowed me to get pregnant after 30 days, so phew i knew i at least had help with the pregnancy part...But since going to the RE surprisingly i have only had to pay for meds and IUI's. I too had A Lap/Hyst/Chromo which would have cost 9000 but ended up only costing $2600 big difference, bitter sweet news is they found nothing to be wrong, so i basically paid $2600 to find out nothing wrong. My RE also uses codes that do not directly come under Infertility, but even when they do BCBS have covered about 80% if not more....Worth talking to your RE and researching Insurance options, i am thankful i did.

dannie382 · #7 (**permalink**) 08-03-2007, 12:25 PM

Thank you ladies!!! I will talk to my Dr when I see him again and then if he still wants to refer me to an RE I will talk to him and see if he can "word" things differently for me!! When I went for my scan I had 2 good sized follicles and one large one, I got the HCG trigger shot and now I am just waiting!!! Hopefully I will get a BFP!!!