IVF Insurance Coverage

IVF insurance coverage is hard to find. Most insurance plans don't provide coverage.  IVF can cost $12,000 or more, and who knows how many cycles you will need.  How do you afford paying for in vitro fertilization, getting pregnant, and having a baby without going broke?

Follow four steps to minimize costs, lower risk, and preserve income.

1. Find IVF Insurance – fifteen states mandate infertility insurance coverage
2. Fund IVF – your employer is an easy source of interest free IVF financing
3. Stick Uncle Sam – leverage the tax code to cut IVF costs
4. Make an informed bet – find the hidden advantage of IVF refund programs

IVF insurance coverage is the holy-grail for couples undergoing in vitro fertilization. Insurance that covers IVF is rarely offered unless compelled by state law. Know which states have infertility mandates, how each work, and who they apply to.  Follow the link below to discover what insurance covers IVF in your state.

If you live, work, or work for an employer headquartered in one of the mandate states, you might be one of the lucky few. Even if your state mandates infertility coverage you need to know the law thoroughly.

Sometimes In Vitro Fertilization will be covered, and sometimes not.  Some states mandate that insurance cover IVF, but no other infertility procedures.  While other times it’s the opposite: IVF is covered, while other infertility treatments are not.  Other states mandate coverage across the board.

IVF involves complex treatments including testing, fertility drugs, and other therapies.  The inconsistencies in state laws make it hard to determine what portion of these therapies will or will not be covered.  So get educated to avoid surprises.

If you live in a state without a mandate, remember that insurance laws apply in the state where a policy is issued.  If you have job flexibility, the key to finding IVF insurance coverage sometimes means finding employers who offer infertility health insurance coverage.

Insurance coverage for IVF may leave you with leftover costs: if you can find it.  Some plans will place limits on the number of cycles covered, while others will require you to utilize other infertility treatments for several years before approving benefit payments for IVF.  The whole process is draining emotionally as well as financially.

IVF financing can get you started, but is hard to come by, and presents risks. Borrowing money in advance of losing mom’s income during maternity leave is scary enough without contemplating a high risk pregnancy often associated with in vitro fertilization.

If a lender is willing to loan you money under these circumstances, it must be coming with a hefty interest rate to cover the obvious risks.  If you are contemplating an IVF loan make sure you protect your ability to repay using supplemental insurance. 

Supplemental insurance coverage for IVF helps offset costs when you conceive and deliver a perfectly healthy baby. This is your objective after all, right?

IVF is often associated with multiple pregnancies, as several fertilized eggs are often inserted to improve your odds of conception. Multiple pregnancies are often high-risk, and deliver pre-term. Your infant(s) may spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and you may be left with extra medical bills.

Supplemental maternity insurance is ideal health coverage for IVF: it pays benefits for normal delivery, complications, premature birth, with an added bonus for multiples born pre-term.  Follow the link to see how this works.

Without In Vitro insurance coverage you have to cut costs at every corner.  Your unreimbursed medical expenses associated with IVF are tax deductible.  These deductions may cut your costs depending upon your income, and your level of unreimbursed expenses.

But there are many limitations and different vehicles to use.  Follow the link to maximize your savings.

Individual IVF insurance coverage that directly pays for IVF costs do not exist. Individual IVF insurance coverage will refund a portion of your costs for a certain number of cycles. The "in vitro fertilization insurance" rebates a portion of costs if you fail to conceive or delivery a baby.

On the surface, individual IVF insurance coverage has appeal. Who wants to make all these additional medical payments, only to come up empty? But did a little deeper, and you might change your thinking.

The insurer is betting that you will deliver a baby, but only if you qualify medically. That means they will offer you this insurance only if their underwriting experience suggests that your IVF treatments will succeed. You are betting the opposite.

Does this make sense? Not to us! Also consider which costs you more: IVF treatments that succeed or fail?

* You fail to get pregnant - You are refunded a portion of the costs

* You conceive and deliver - Your costs are just beginning. First, you are responsible for the full cost of your IVF cycles. Then you may experience a high risk multiple pregnancy, incur additional medical expenses, and/or miss unplanned time from work. You then will lose mom's income during her maternity leave. Then there is the cost of raising your child(ren).

If you can't afford IVF treatments that fail to work, how can you possibly deal with the extra expenses and lost income? Plus, you will be betting against the insurance company armed with better information, more experience, and deeper pockets.

If you qualify for the rebate, make an informed bet: buy supplemental maternity insurance.