$$$ involved in IUI/IVF

[sim081005]

Hi All,

I know this is a very personnal topic but DH & I need to head down the track of IU/IVF but we are concerned about the $$$.

Can anyone give me an indication as to the amount that we are up for?

I have tried looking on the net but haven't had much luck so far.

Thanks in advance

[kittykatz]

Hi Sim

I've recently started looking into this as well. What i have found is it varies DRAMATICALLY from clinic to clinic and even state to state.

For IVF most places require payment up front - around $7000 seems to be a common amount. From that you seem to get about $3500 - $4000 back from medicare. But this doesn't normally cover anaethatist, the fertility specialist themselves, medications.

IUI costs around $500 - $800.

[sim081005]

WOW!!!!

It is a lot of money.

I really want a child but that would neverly kill us. We would only get about 2 maybe 3 cycles a year.

There should be more that the government should do

[Athers]

Hi Sim081005

I agree there should be more the government should do. A lady I am in contact with that is also going through IVF has put a petition together to be given the option to apply for the grant equivilant to the Baby Bonus in lieu for IVF treatment. I personally think this is a great idea. Rachwantsabub has posted about this earlier also. If anyone wants a copy of the petition or any more info please PM me with your email address and I will be happy to send you the info.

[babycake]

Hi There,
After reaching the medicare safety net (which you do easily withing your first few visits to an FS), we paid about $1000 for each cycle plus anethnatist. I think this is fairly cheap compared to what some clinics charge.
We went through Wesley Monash.

[singa06]

Hey Sim,
WELCOME BACK!
I am starting IUI next week at Monash IVF. It is $917 plus ultra sounds and Blood tests (which are around $100-$200). We will get back 80% from Medicare once we reach our safety net (So basically out of pocket $1050 first time round, but 80% off the next round which will help out a a lot).

[IVFcrazylady]

I am going through IVF at Westmead fertility clinic. It is REALLY cheap! It is a non proffit organisation. For a full IVF cycle including meds it is costing me $1400 up front. I dont know how much is given back with medicare, but apparently it is nearly $1000!!!! :smiliedance:

I hope you find a clinic that works for you and your man!!!

:hugs:

[Incy Wincy]

Hi,

I tried AI/IUI. The current upfront fee is $715.00 but the out of pocket amt after the 80% safety net is reached is $129.86. The first payment therefore hits you hard and then it improves. I believe the Safety Net balance is adjusted every calendar year so I presume starting treatment in Jan is preferable? - Can anyone confirm this is correct please?

For a stimulated IVF cycle it's $2875.00 and the out of pocket amt after the safety net is reached is $561.86. There's also a new paitent admin fee of $230.00 which isn't refundable through Medicare.

You also have to take into account:
Hospital Bed Fee which can range from $268.00 to $775.00 depending on hospital.
Anaesthetist fee approx $250.00 with a Medicare rebate claimable after procedure.

Also, I had to buy nasal spray at $100.00 and the contraceptive pill at $27.50 for my down reg cycle.

It's a pain having to pay it upfront and we've done this with our credit card. I hate running up credit and get the jitters about getting the medicare amt back in time for the repayment date as I don't want to end up paying off loads of interest.

Best of luck :)

Incy x

[serenity2008]

Hi Sim081005:wave:

Here is a copy of some info we got from one of my friends on bubhub when we were looking at pricing etc for IVF.

I live in Adelaide so we had 2 clinics to choose from I decided Repromed as I could get in earlier and I found I connected with them better and got info from them. I have just finshed 1st IVF cycle march 08.

The total cost for cycle at Repromed is 10,000...WE paid $3509.70 this covered drugs, scans bt's etc, for EPU we have priv health so we paid excess for that. I didn't get to ET stage. We are hoping to get aprox 80% from medicare.

FLINDERS OR REPROMED????


For a fresh ICSI cycle (fully stimulated cycle) works out as follows:

Total Fee: $4569.15. Medicare Rebate: $2456.45. My out of pocket expenses are therefore $2112.70 for un-insured patient (thats me) or $2032.25 if you have private hospital cover. I think the difference has something to do with the cost of the bed for EPU. Also they only expect you to pay the out of pocket expense up front and they go straight to medicare for the $2456.45. Therefore I only have had to pay out $2112.70 compared to Repromed who asked me for $3274.30 out of pocket.** both clinics have had price rise.**

Anyway then of course you have you medicare safety net threshold. My threshold limit because I already have a child and receive Family tax benefits part A (standard for most families who have at least 1 child) is $519 per calender year. We had already reached $410 before starting this so therefore I am expecting about $1600 back from medicare in the next few weeks.

So in case I lost you somewhere in there: the upfront out of pocket expense was $2112.70 (uninsured) or $2032.25 (insured). In my personal situation after my threshold refund I will be out of pocket a bit over $500 + annual storage fee.

Also annual freezing storage at Repromed is $265 and Flinders is $220.

Frozen Embryo cycle is less:
Total fee $1720.05, Medicare rebate $757.45, Upfront out of pocket costs for uninsured or insured is $962.60 as there is no EPU and bed charge. Repromed wanted $1040 out of pocket.

Traditional IVF (Not ICSI) at Flinders is:
Total Fee: $3846.15, Medicare rebate $ 2133.45, Out of pocket upfront cost $1712.70 uninsured or $1632.25 insured.

Hope I didn't confuse you :confused:

serenity

[singa06]

I believe the Safety Net balance is adjusted every calendar year so I presume starting treatment in Jan is preferable? - Can anyone confirm this is correct please?



:yes:
We are starting this month, so we can fit in a few IUI and maybe even IVF by the end of the year...

[katiana]

i had 3 iui, 2 lots of collections and am up to my 8th transfer, over a 2 year period, and ALL up im in 15 thousand, debt ( on a credit card which i hate, but its for a good cause). this also includes sperm from america and 2 admissions to hospital with ovarian hyperstimulation.
i cant tell u how much medicare and HCF have rebated, but i can say the 80% is helpful.



INCY WINCY = the medicarfe safety net year is a calender year. .



hope this info helps.

[sim081005]

Thank you all so much.

We ahve private health but I am not sure how much they pay for so I will need to do some investigating.

It gets me so mad that the gov is not prepared to put more money into this.

Oh well I guess I am not going to change that.

I have a few months up my sleeve anyway as I just started a new job and need to be with them for 3 months before I try anything just in case it works first go.

Jess

[TJ]

My first IUI cycle was $720 upfront, and I think I ended up about $300 out of pocket, by the time I got some back from medicare (I hadn't reached the safety net then)

Then with IVF, it was $7000ish up front, and ends up about $1000 out of pocket once you get some back from medicare. I also had private health cover, so that covered all the in hospital costs.

So its not really all that expensive at the end of the day, its just forking out the money up fron thats the problem. And when you have IVF so long as you get a decent amount of eggs, you wont have to go through another IVF cycle until the are all used.
You would then have FET cycles, which are also around the $1000 up front mark I think - not sure what you get back from medicare as I never had to go down that road.

[JnA]

We need to remember that the government already heavily subsidises the cost of IVF even before one gets to the clinic.

The actual cost of one cycle is upwards of $20,000. (or somewhere near that figure)