Feb 16, 2020
Chrissy's advice:
What many don’t know is that IVF isn’t covered by any federal
health plan. And only a few health plans cover a portion of IUI.
Some of the federal health plans used to cover part of IVF, but IVF
was dropped after a change was made in 2017.
Infertility isn’t life-threatening, but a recent study concluded
that women with infertility felt as anxious or depressed as those
diagnosed with cancer, hypertension, or recovering from a heart
attack. In another study 50% of women said that infertility was the
most upsetting experience of their lives.
Infertility is a disease according to the World Health
Organization, and is recognized as a disability under the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). Most organizations and supervisors
don’t know this.
Strategies:
- Once I understood infertility was a disability, I requested –
and was approved for - a reasonable accommodation. I knew there
were days I’d need to telework depending on how the medications
were affecting me. I couldn’t travel as often either as I needed to
stick close to home for injections and frequently doctor’s
visits.
- I reached out to the women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) and
offered to be a panelist and/or lead a session on infertility. The
ERG set up a brown bag lunch on the topic for its members. It was a
great way to start breaking down the stigma around infertility, in
addition to connecting with others experiencing – or who have
experienced – infertility to share resources and the like.
- Outside of work I practiced yoga and regularly went to an
acupuncturist. We tend to live from the neck up, but fertility
requires you to be in your body. Infertility can feel like your
body has betrayed you. Both yoga and acupuncture helped me make
peace with my body before and after treatments.
- Have a general idea of when you will stop treatment if it isn’t
working. IVF is often the last chance a woman has to get pregnant.
Feelings of desperation can quickly set in when a round doesn’t
work. You want to keep trying. It is easy to lose all of your
savings and quickly fall into debt doing round after round of
IVF.
- Find people who can support you through the process. Many
fertility clinics have support groups. There are a number of
support groups on Facebook too. Sharing your infertility status
with family and friends is a double-edged sword. You may get
questions about why you aren’t adopting, or well-meaning friends or
family try to fix the problem by saying things like “it will happen
when you relax.” These aren’t supportive questions, nor are they
helpful. There are many reasons women and couples pursue IVF, and
those reasons are personal. In my case, we looked into domestic
adoption and were told by the adoption agency that we were too
old.
What advice do you have for other feds experiencing the
same thing?
Cost is a huge consideration. The cost of the treatment is often
separate from the cost of the medications for the treatment. To
give you an idea, IVF costs between $12,000-$15,000 plus
$3,000-$5,000 in medications. We are talking between $15,000 to
$20,000 for each attempt.
- I used the shared-risk program at Shady Grove Fertility. I paid
more upfront, but if IVF didn’t work, we would get our money back
minus the cost of medications. My husband and I paid just under
$30,000, which was a higher because our treatment included genetic
tests for our embryos. That isn’t the best strategy for everyone,
but it worked for me. I knew of one fed that went to CNY Fertility
Center in New York. CNY’s goal is to keep IVF affordable. So
instead of paying upwards of $20,000 per round (which includes the
treatment, meds and monitoring), you pay closer to $10,000. There
is waiting list can be long though.
- I tapped into my Thift Savings Plan to take out a personal loan
to cover the cost.
- I have heard of some feds working at Starbucks part-time.
Starbucks offers health insurance for its part-time employees, and
that health insurance covers IVF and IUI.
- I believe 10 states now mandate that insurance companies cover
the cost of fertility treatments. Maryland is one of those states.
I knew of a fed living in Maryland who was able to get a second
health insurance plan that covered IVF through her state’s exchange
program. The health insurance plan was expensive, but it was
cheaper than paying for the procedure out of pocket.
- Talk to your reasonable accommodation coordinator about your
options and needs. In additional to telework and minimizing my
travel for work, I temporarily worked a compressed schedule.
- Don’t hesitate to use your employer assistance program if you
find yourself needing to talk to a therapist. It depends on the
program, but I believe all EAPs include a number of free counseling
sessions.
- Advocate for change with your HR office. The more women ask for
the benefit to come back, the more likely it will. Staying silent
only hurts us and those that come after us that need fertility
treatments.
Health Insurance:
- None of the plans cover IVF, but a few plans cover some of the
medications. I had the Mail Handlers Standard plan and they covered
all but one prescription. I’ve heard Scott & White may cover some
of the drugs for IVF as well.
- Some plans cover a portion of IUI. My understanding is that is
that Kaiser covers 50% of IUI. CareFirst covers part of IUI as
well.
- Do your research though! I recommend attending the health fairs
during open season and ask about fertility benefits. Find out which
plans cover what. It will save you hours of research online.
- If your plan doesn’t cover the meds, shop around. I found the
prices of meds to be drastically different from one company to the
next, and one prescription to the next. We used MDR Pharmacy for
the meds not covered by our healthy plan. I found manufactures
coupons online too. That saved us a few hundred dollars.
Resources:
- Resolve: The National Infertility Association - national
patient advocacy organization. They have the most up-to-date
resources and information about infertility. They also have support
groups you can tap into it, and advocate for all experiencing
infertility.
- Other feds that have gone through the process – share resources
and provide support
What many don’t know is that IVF isn’t covered by any federal
health plan. And only a few health plans cover a portion of IUI.
Some of the federal health plans used to cover part of IVF, but IVF
was dropped after a change was made in 2017.
Infertility isn’t life-threatening, but a recent study concluded
that women with infertility felt as anxious or depressed as those
diagnosed with cancer, hypertension, or recovering from a heart
attack. In another study 50% of women said that infertility was the
most upsetting experience of their lives.
Infertility is a disease according to the World Health
Organization, and is recognized as a disability under the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). Most organizations and supervisors
don’t know this.
Strategies:
- Once I understood infertility was a disability, I requested –
and was approved for - a reasonable accommodation. I knew there
were days I’d need to telework depending on how the medications
were affecting me. I couldn’t travel as often either as I needed to
stick close to home for injections and frequently doctor’s
visits.
- I reached out to the women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) and
offered to be a panelist and/or lead a session on infertility. The
ERG set up a brown bag lunch on the topic for its members. It was a
great way to start breaking down the stigma around infertility, in
addition to connecting with others experiencing – or who have
experienced – infertility to share resources and the like.
- Outside of work I practiced yoga and regularly went to an
acupuncturist. We tend to live from the neck up, but fertility
requires you to be in your body. Infertility can feel like your
body has betrayed you. Both yoga and acupuncture helped me make
peace with my body before and after treatments.
- Have a general idea of when you will stop treatment if it isn’t
working. IVF is often the last chance a woman has to get pregnant.
Feelings of desperation can quickly set in when a round doesn’t
work. You want to keep trying. It is easy to lose all of your
savings and quickly fall into debt doing round after round of
IVF.
- Find people who can support you through the process. Many
fertility clinics have support groups. There are a number of
support groups on Facebook too. Sharing your infertility status
with family and friends is a double-edged sword. You may get
questions about why you aren’t adopting, or well-meaning friends or
family try to fix the problem by saying things like “it will happen
when you relax.” These aren’t supportive questions, nor are they
helpful. There are many reasons women and couples pursue IVF, and
those reasons are personal. In my case, we looked into domestic
adoption and were told by the adoption agency that we were too
old.
Cost is a huge consideration. The cost of the treatment is often
separate from the cost of the medications for the treatment. To
give you an idea, IVF costs between $12,000-$15,000 plus
$3,000-$5,000 in medications. We are talking between $15,000 to
$20,000 for each attempt.
- I used the shared-risk program at Shady Grove Fertility. I paid
more upfront, but if IVF didn’t work, we would get our money back
minus the cost of medications. My husband and I paid just under
$30,000, which was a higher because our treatment included genetic
tests for our embryos. That isn’t the best strategy for everyone,
but it worked for me.
- I knew of one fed that went to CNY Fertility Center in New
York. CNY’s goal is to keep IVF affordable. So instead of paying
upwards of $20,000 per round (which includes the treatment, meds
and monitoring), you pay closer to $10,000. There is waiting list
can be long though.
- I tapped into my Thift Savings Plan to take out a personal loan
to cover the cost.
- I have heard of some feds working at Starbucks part-time.
Starbucks offers health insurance for its part-time employees, and
that health insurance covers IVF and IUI.
- I believe 10 states now mandate that insurance companies cover
the cost of fertility treatments. Maryland is one of those states.
I knew of a fed living in Maryland who was able to get a second
health insurance plan that covered IVF through her state’s exchange
program. The health insurance plan was expensive, but it was
cheaper than paying for the procedure out of pocket.
Talk to your reasonable accommodation coordinator about your
options and needs. In additional to telework and minimizing my
travel for work, I temporarily worked a compressed schedule.
- Don’t hesitate to use your employer assistance program if you
find yourself needing to talk to a therapist. It depends on the
program, but I believe all EAPs include a number of free counseling
sessions.
- Advocate for change with your HR office. The more women ask for
the benefit to come back, the more likely it will. Staying silent
only hurts us and those that come after us that need fertility
treatments.
Health Insurance:
- None of the plans cover IVF, but a few plans cover some of the
medications. I had the Mail Handlers Standard plan and they covered
all but one prescription. I’ve heard Scott & White may cover some
of the drugs for IVF as well.
- Some plans cover a portion of IUI. My understanding is that is
that Kaiser covers 50% of IUI. CareFirst covers part of IUI as
well.
- Do your research though! I recommend attending the health fairs
during open season and ask about fertility benefits. Find out which
plans cover what. It will save you hours of research online.
- If your plan doesn’t cover the meds, shop around. I found the
prices of meds to be drastically different from one company to the
next, and one prescription to the next. We used MDR Pharmacy for
the meds not covered by our healthy plan. I found manufactures
coupons online too. That saved us a few hundred dollars.
- The National Infertility Association - national patient
advocacy organization. They have the most up-to-date resources and
information about infertility. They also have support groups you
can tap into it, and advocate for all experiencing infertility.
Resolve.org
- Other feds that have gone through the process – share resources
and provide support