Infertility Insurance Options
Learning that you are dealing with some (unknown) type of fertility disorder can be heartbreaking, with dreams of holding your baby infant a vision now in jeopardy. The good news is that there often are a number of options before you, made possible by modern medicine. The bad news is that some of those alternatives can be quite costly. The biggest obstacle to achieving your dreams of a houseful of children may be money; that’s where infertility insurance comes in.
Elsewhere we’ve discussed the numerous methods to treat infertility. Some are quite inexpensive and others are very costly. The testing alone can cost thousands of dollars. If you embark on a program with a specialist, it may involve ongoing testing and visits, which can add up tremendously. Some assisted reproductive procedures can cost over $4,000, with the potential for in-vitro fertilization to be much higher still. You could be looking at $10,000 or more by the time you are finished.
These costs are beyond the budget of many couples and they need help. One potential solution is to purchase one of the forms of infertility insurance presently available. What are the options for this type of specialty insurance?
Add to Regular Health Insurance Policy
Some health insurance companies offer supplemental coverage for possible infertility, and some employers cover this for employees. For a relatively small premium the couple acquires protection in the event they find out about a fertility problem. The coverage will handle some or all of the costs of a wide variety of diagnostic and treatment alternatives. These may include fertility tests, artificial insemination and treatment of other health issues that are affecting the ability to conceive. The insurance company may want you to start the process with the least expensive steps, and there are limits to how long they will cover the costs for ongoing treatment.
The best pricing comes when the insurance is purchased before there is any hint of infertility; in fact it may be unavailable for couples with pre-existing conditions. The reason it is so inexpensive is that the probability that any one customer will have the problem is small. Once the doctor has diagnosed infertility, this option becomes less viable (or much more expensive), but still worth investigating.
Refund Program
This is an interesting approach to the problem. The couple must pay up front for the cost of the treatment, but if they are still unable to conceive successfully after a predetermined period of time the insurance company refunds between 70% and 100% of the amounts paid.
Financing
This is not really insurance, but a specialty loan program to help spread out the costs. Some such loans do not require full payback if the couple are unsuccessful. In this way it is similar to a refund program.
Conclusions
In these days of upheaval in the health insurance industry it would be wise to seek the help of a specialist. Not everybody can obtain this specialty coverage; it will depend on your specific existing insurance company. There may be age limits (maximum age of say 40 years) and the requirement that the buyers are existing customers. The insurance company could require that the couple be trying to get pregnant for over a year before considering it an insurable situation. Other restrictions and terms will undoubtedly apply, so be careful before purchasing any policy.
Infertility insurance is not an instant answer to the high costs of treatment, but it is worthy of some investigation. There are plenty of costs associated with the joys of new parenthood and it would be a shame to burn through the family savings in the effort to start a family.
