Imaginary Insurance Coverage

J got a new job- YEAH! This means a bigger paycheck for us, which is never a bad thing. Ever since I have known that this was coming, I've been DYING to get my paws on the insurance card. Dying to call about the coverage. And a little bit-in my head- I had already decided that we were going to go from being 100% out of pocket for all our IVF expenses, to 100% covered and in the clear. I was doing a mental happy dance about it already.

I finally got the ID and group number- called to the customer service number- and then they told me there is no coverage for infertility or ART procedures. :::insert sound of balloon deflation here:::

So I know I shouldn't be THAT disappointed. But my imaginary infertility coverage was awesome. And now it's gone again. And we're back to saving every penny so we can try to have a baby.

Big Step

We have 100% secured our financing for IVF. I won't get into how we got it, but we have the money to pay for shared risk and our first round of meds.

A HUGE weight lifted off our shoulders. And a huge blessing.

Approved!

Just got the call from the Finance Office at the RE... We have been approved for Shared Risk! Yeah!

Now does anyone have $26,000 I can have??

More RE updates

See...when you update late, you forget stuff.

The money. I forgot about the money stuff. JC and I are interested in participating in a Shared Risk program at our clinic. What that means is there is a set fee that is paid up front and we are given 6 fresh IVF cycles with a 100% guarantee of a live birth. If not- we get 100% of the money back. We can drop out of the program at any time and still get 100% of our money back. Sounds like a good plan, right? It is. And it's also $20,000. And that doesn't include drugs or ICSI.

So I told you about how I had a low follie count- only 7 when they really expect anywhere from 10-20. This means that we aren't automatically accepted into the Shared Risk program. Our case has to be brought before a committee of the doctors and we have to be approved. I get it- I mean if you're going to give me a guarantee- you want to make sure you can deliver. To me- it's just a new thing to worry about.

So I think that with drugs and ICSI- we're looking at a price tag of about $26,000. So daunting. I wasn't shocked at the cost. But now that it's around the corner and we're having conversations like "Payment due 10 days prior to stimming" and I know when the stimming might start...it becomes a big obstacle and very overwhelming. Where does this money come from? How will we ever come up with that kind of money? I guess we better figure that out.

Move or Stay?

That is the question.

We thought- we'll sell the house and go rent an apartment somewhere to save ourselves some serious cash-o-la. And in the long run that money will help pay for IF treatments. JC and I both spent some time researching rentals in the area today and discovered that it might not be such an awesome plan. It looks like we may not be able to save as much as we anticipated.

More research is required. Can we refinance and bring down our payment enough to make up essentially what we'd pay in rent? What happens if we do get pregnant quickly and then we're in a 750sq. ft. condo with no where to put New Baby C? How much would it cost to refinance?

So now it seems we're leaning a little toward the stay end. We have pretty much gotten the house to where we actually like it and we have plenty of space here.

So we'll see...research pending.

$$ Show Me the Money $$

How in Gods name do people pay for IF treatments? Now that I am *a little bit* over the shock part of all of this- reality is setting in. How on earth can we afford IVF? Are we better off doing Shared Risk? So many more questions come up.

Here is a list of my financial gripes about this situation.
1. Insurance is a crock.
I have a 10 month waiting period on my insurance for Infertility coverage. So that means 10 months from my start date for any type of diagnostic testing. That puts me out till end of January. Which would be fine if we weren't dealing with JC's Low T issues. 10 month waiting period means no end in sight for JC's issues unless the new uro is a miracle worker. Even if he is- we can't afford to pay OOP for testing and drugs. Just not gonna happen. So we wait.

2. We are moving.
We're selling our house and moving into my 750 sq. ft. condo so we can save everything we possibly can to pay for IVF. It's going to be miserable, but in the end- hopefully will allow us to save enough to not have this put us in a huge financial pit. Moving sucks.

Now I just need the house to sell quickly. It goes on the market September 1!