Sunday, April 7, 2013

Infertility and Insurance (or the lack thereof)

The other day I had a conversation with my sister, M, and it got me thinking: why do most insurance companies have inferior or non-existent infertility coverage?  

M was commenting on the fact that she had been treated for an eating disorder 3 times at an intensive outpatient facility.  It cost the insurance company thousands of dollars a day.  I believe there was a 30 day limit.  This meant it cost the insurance company a minimum of 50K for each stint - a grand total of at least 150K!  Meanwhile, my company's insurance plan covers $0 for infertility and E's plan (luckily) has a 30K lifetime max.  Honestly, I do not see the equity in this.  

A while back, I remember a friend said, well of course insurance companies do not cover IVF, so few people need it.  Oh thanks - that makes me feel much better.  I get it - a lot of people do not use this service - but I do not use services that other people use on a regular basis (chiropractor, physical therapist, psychiatrist, etc) and I am still paying for it.  Is that fair? 

I wish insurance companies were more flexible.  Like, okay - you never used our services for anything other than preventive care, we will throw you a bone and let you use the money you are paying for insurance for something you actually NEED.  Hmmm, imagine that....interesting idea!  Glad I thought of it.

Think Positive, 
Cat

2 comments:

  1. I wish all insurance companies covered IVF since I view infertility as a condition like any other that requires medical intervention

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  2. Thank you for your comment. I 100% believe. It frustrates me that so many things are covered and the ONE thing that we need is covered insufficiently! Best of luck on your journey. I think we both did our IVF cycles at the same time last year ;-)

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