Talk to me about infertility testing costs

Uptowngirl2009 · September 2013

So who can talk to me about the costs for the various infertility tests that would typically be done (s/a, blood work, ultrasounds, etc.)? I'm just curious as my appointment gets closer and I actually started reading more last night about the different tests and the purpose of each. My benefits booklet states that "infertility counseling, testing, and treatment" is covered 100% after deductible. I have not paid anything towards my deductible yet since it started over July 1st.

Anyone familiar with any of the costs associated with testing? Please enlighten me!

Aimothy · September 2013

HSG: 1,048 + 228 for Radiologist to read results

S/A: It was around $200?

Intital IF bloodwork with OB: Around $800

More IF bloodwork with RE: Around $600

All totaled over the course of the last three years, my insurance has been billed for about $12,000 in procedures and bloodworks (does not include IVF procedure). WHOMP.

LittleLady77 · September 2013

- Initial chat with the RE - $195 (just so he could order the tests)
- SA - $28
- Bloodwork for both DH and I - Somehow we got this for free the first time around but with our new RE we got billed $940 and that was just part of the testing as the were able to use most of the results from the first round of testing
- HSG - $212
- Initial ultrasound to check AFC - $224
- After our crappy results the doc wanted to chat with us again - $195

Then treatments started... We ended up paying $30,000 out of pocket and we got 1/2 off everything and a few fees totally waived. I recommend you keep an excel spread sheet with all your costs and receipts for tax purposes.

edit: fixed for spacing

Uptowngirl2009 · September 2013

Thanks, Aim! I know my insurance does not cover "Assisted Fertilization." I know that means IVF but I don't know if that also includes IUI. It also says that some of the fertility drugs are subject to "cost sharing" so I don't know what that means either. I'll have a lot of questions to ask the doctors and my insurance company when the time comes.

Thankfully, my deductible is only $350 right now. Well, it's actually $1200 but we have this reimbursement deal with the school district where we pay the first $350 and then they reimburse the rest until we reach $1200. So it shouldn't be too bad but I just don't know where we will be when it comes to our treatment options and what we will be able to afford.

Uptowngirl2009 · September 2013

Thanks @LittleLady77!

poppies717 · September 2013

I don't want to hijack this, but I have a question about OOP expenses, receipts, and taxes.

We've paid OOP for all the meds so far. The total is almost $400. I only have the receipt for my last trigger. Will an Excel spreadsheet be accepted? We itemize our taxes, and I've tried to be good about keeping receipts, but I can only find one right now. Ugh. We want to make sure we get as many deductions as possible, because we've been screwed in the past on taxes. Stupid DINK!

LittleLady77 · September 2013

@poppies as long as you don't get audited it will be just fine. If you do get audited just go back to the hospital, tell them what you had and the date and ask for another receipt. I don't have all my receipts either... hopefully the IRS overlooks me (which they probably will as I'm not a millionaire)

For us the excel spread sheet was the easiest way to keep track of everything IF related (travel, lawyers, meds, food while traveling, treatments). It ended up being a huge list and we could easily keep track of everything with that and see what we had already spent real time.

ILoveRedVino · September 2013

My insurance changed like 9 months ago. It originally paid for all testing on me but H's SA wasn't covered. I think it was just over $100.

When the change happened, insurance stopped covering fertility ultrasounds. It added about $400 to each cycle/test.

Aimothy · September 2013

I had a folder which housed every receipt and EOB that we were related to our IF expenses.

We ended up not even qualifying to deduct our IF expenses, because it (OOP expenses) has to be over 10% of your gross income. (I have a savings plan through work, in which we were able to get a refund of almost $5,000, so we couldn't use that money, which then sent us out of deduction range. If we hadn't done this, we definitely would have qualified, but the deductions would not have gotten us $5000 back.)

poppies717 · September 2013

I had a folder which housed every receipt and EOB that we were related to our IF expenses.

We ended up not even qualifying to deduct our IF expenses, because it (OOP expenses) has to be over 10% of your gross income. (I have a savings plan through work, in which we were able to get a refund of almost $5,000, so we couldn't use that money, which then sent us out of deduction range. If we hadn't done this, we definitely would have qualified, but the deductions would not have gotten us $5000 back.)

I didn't know this part. Good to know! We won't qualify.

MrsS728 · September 2013

My insurance covers 6 rounds of clomid, 6 IUIs not IVF. My DH has the VA for insurance and they covered SA. Every apt is a $15 co-pay. My blood work i covered as long as I go to specific labs.

LooneyLife · September 2013

I used to keep a spreadsheet, but even doing IVF, the amount spent was not coming close to the 10% it needed to be to deduct. As far as costs go, it's really going to depend on the rate your insurance has negotiated. I've had two different insurance carriers, each covering different IF related things. But the cost of the same thing under each varied greatly.

rccola1981 · September 2013

I can't tell you much about the costs because I've only had one not covered. Last year I was doing my full hormone blood testing and I met my $1,200 deductible in 18 days. After a year of not paying to go to the doctor I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea of paying since the deductible started over.

seahorse01 · September 2013

LittleLady77 said:

@poppies as long as you don't get audited it will be just fine. If you do get audited just go back to the hospital, tell them what you had and the date and ask for another receipt. I don't have all my receipts either... hopefully the IRS overlooks me (which they probably will as I'm not a millionaire)

For us the excel spread sheet was the easiest way to keep track of everything IF related (travel, lawyers, meds, food while traveling, treatments). It ended up being a huge list and we could easily keep track of everything with that and see what we had already spent real time.

Negatory. People get audited all the time that are not millionaires. I did when I was 22 and only making like $24k.

DangerMuffin23 · September 2013

Yeah, I got audited at 19yrs old. Alot easier to get audited then, when you live in an appt and have a shitty job and go to school. I think I owed like 100-200$. :-) As long as you can get records from the dr if you need them, I wouldn't worry.

spin25 · September 2013

poppies717 said:

I don't want to hijack this, but I have a question about OOP expenses, receipts, and taxes.

We've paid OOP for all the meds so far. The total is almost $400. I only have the receipt for my last trigger. Will an Excel spreadsheet be accepted? We itemize our taxes, and I've tried to be good about keeping receipts, but I can only find one right now. Ugh. We want to make sure we get as many deductions as possible, because we've been screwed in the past on taxes. Stupid DINK!

I know you already said you won't qualify for the deduction, but in case things change or someone else doesn't have receipts for meds...if you got them at a retail pharmacy, you should be able to just go there and ask for a list of what you spent over a certain period of time. I work in a retail pharmacy and it would take me about 30 seconds to get this together for someone, listing name of med/date filled/amount paid. Easy peasy. I think our customers can do it online too. It might be a little more difficult if you used a specialty pharmacy--I'm not sure.

Amberley18 · September 2013

Although I did not have any type of IF coverage, most of my tested was covered as "diagnostic" since it wasn't treatment.

My HSG was $1300, I just had to pay my copay.

S/A was $450, covered

Clomid ($8 at Walmart) and monitoring ($350/ time) was covered, however, monitoring associated with IUI was not.

HCG trigger was not covered, around $110/shot.

Blood work was covered, but since we had a RPL panel and some more intense testing, it cost my insurance >$4000.

saraeric · September 2013

These are all approximate as I can't remember exact amounts. I just know it was cheaper than I was expecting!

SA- $40

HSG- $400

All my bloodwork/sonograms was covered as I was trying to get a diagnoses for "irregular" periods. I just had to pay my copay.

Uptowngirl2009 · September 2013

It gives me hope that maybe some of the tests will be covered as "diagnostic." I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Talk to me about infertility testing costs

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