When we meet with our patients, the most common concern is the cost of fertility treatments. While our primary goal at the Arizona Center for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility is to help patients have a baby, we don’t ever want to leave these couples and women in the lurch when it comes to paying for treatments.
We do everything we can on our part to mitigate the costs and help you explore financial options to make procedures more affordable. We also start with the simplest and most inexpensive treatments first, before moving on to costlier procedures.
In our more than 20 years of helping families, we’ve seen some patients get creative in the ways they pay for their infertility treatments. Here are five of the most common approaches our patients are using that may work for you as well.
Medical/Personal Loans
We suggest medical or personal loans (in lieu of using a credit card) for many of our patients who do not have the funds immediately on hand. APR rates tend to be much lower for these types of loans than for credit card charges. Since personal loans typically require fewer questions than medical loans, many patients choose that option; that way, they have less of their personal medical record information on file at a bank.
Saving
Because we tend to start off with less expensive treatments, such as intrauterine insemination (IUI)—which sometimes costs just $300 per procedure—patients are able to pay out of pocket. Other patients who know they likely need IVF to conceive (usually because they’ve had tubal ligations or are missing their fallopian tubes), will come into our office having started saving money ahead of time. Usually, they are surprised by the cost of treatments, expecting it to cost much more than what they end up paying; again, that’s because our team works diligently to help reduce the costs in any way we can.
Family
We’ve had several patients who mention to us that their families are providing financial help. There are parents (of the couple) who want to be grandparents or know how badly their child wants a baby that they are willing to fully or partially fund procedures. Sometimes they even come to appointments and are involved with treatments because they’re so excited for the couple.
Fundraising
In rare occasions, patients have opened online fundraising accounts to cast a wider net and ask more friends and family to help fund their treatments.
Insurance
Most of our patients will have insurance coverage for their ultrasound visits. However, lab work—because we do everything in-house, rather than sending it out—is not covered. All other procedures are dependent on the particular benefits of a patient’s insurance. However, Dr. Gelety will always try to diagnose medical reasons—beyond those related just to infertility. That way, as many treatments or medications will be covered as possible, even when a patient does not have infertility insurance.
Some patients do specifically have infertility coverage, though, and others often ask us if this is something they should consider before beginning treatment. In vitro coverage is usually very rare, and there are many requirements by the insurance in order to qualify. Every insurance company is different, but typically, there are stipulations such as needing to be a certain age, having timed and unprotected intercourse for a specific amount of time, and completing various tests or treatments in order to meet the all the prerequisites.
We try to help patients navigate all their insurance options but recommend they talk to an HR or insurance company representative to get specific benefit details.
We know you are very eager to start or grow your family, and we want you to know we’re on your team and want you to have a healthy, happy baby—without being burdened with financial stress. For more information on what starting a family may cost you and to explore your options, visit us online or call 520-326-0001.