Affordable Fertility Care and IVF Treatment

A lot of Intended Parents wonder why IVF costs so much. Affordable IVF is not common, and this is because, unlike other medical procedures, IVF treatment is not usually covered by health insurance. Hence, patients need to pay from their own pocket. A kidney transplant cost would be much of a concern since insurance covers a large percentage of the price. The scarcity of affordable fertility treatment options is one of the biggest obstacles preventing many hopeful parents in the US from achieving their family dreams.

Low-cost infertility treatment will remain scarce until we start seeing infertility as a condition whose treatment should be covered by insurance.

Even though one cycle of IVF costs around $15,000 to $25,000 (including all the possible expenses), the costs have not increased as much as other medical procedures have done in the past two decades. This is because fertility clinics are doing their best to be as efficient as possible, bearing in mind the huge amount patients pay out of pocket.

Although affordable IVF interventions are rare, there are many ways Intended Parents can pay some of the costs and save a bundle.

Why it’s important to make IVF affordable

Affordable IVF is essential in today’s medical landscape for many reasons:

1. The average cost of IVF is pricey

• The average cost of IVF stands at $12,000, but this is only the amount fertility clinics quote for their basic IVF package. There are many other expenses parents would need to pay, which brings the actual average to about $20,000.
• Some patients don’t conceive with IVF at the first time of trying. The sad truth is that IVF success rates are a little above 50% in the best of cases. Studies have shown that the average patient could need two or more IVF cycles (an average of two) to get pregnant, spending around $50,000 to $60,000 in the process.

2. Insurance does not usually cover IVF

• Even though infertility is considered a medical diagnosis and IVF is the best treatment for it, a 2018 Mercer study of the IVF insurance market showed that 74% of people in the US don’t have IVF insurance coverage.
• Even in states where there are laws mandating insurance providers to cover IVF, not everybody is covered. An example of these laws is the New York State Fertility Mandate. Although this is a big step forward, the law has plenty of wiggle room and exceptions, which make approximately half of the US population ineligible since many American people don’t work for large employers (firms with more than 100 workers).
• The Mercer report also showed that those with fertility coverage are those of high socioeconomic class.  In fact, the average salary of those covered is $20,000 more than that of those with no insurance coverage. 

3. The average US person just don’t earn enough to pay for expensive IVF

• The average yearly household income in the US is around $63,000, with a disposable income of about $14,000.

Maximize your insurance benefits: Call your insurance provider before visiting fertility clinics

The first thing you need to do before visiting a fertility clinic is to find out whether or not you have fertility coverage – and if yes, what kind of coverage. If you get your health insurance from your or your spouse’s employer, speak to the benefits person to know exactly what is covered.

The fine print on insurance policies is usually more than 100 pages and written in small font, so you need to dedicate time to go through your plan details to ensure you understand everything.

Below are some questions you need to ask your insurance coordinator if you have coverage for infertility treatments:

• Does insurance cover initial consultations – and if yes, how many? (This will allow you to know whether you can visit different clinics before making your choice).
• Is infertility diagnostic testing covered? Although there may be no coverage for IUI or IVF procedures, your blood work, and ultrasound monitoring may be covered.
• Are medications covered, and if so, do they have to be from a particular pharmacy?
• Which fertility treatments are covered? Does insurance cover both intrauterine insemination and IVF?
• Is there any waiting period before you are eligible for IVF? Do you need to undergo certain treatment (like IUI) first? Some insurers require several months of trying to conceive naturally without success or completing multiple rounds of IUI before starting IVF.
• Is there a certain limit on your fertility coverage? Ask the insurance coordinator whether there is a dollar limit, a cycle amount, or a lifetime limit on the insurance coverage.

You can afford IVF by taking advantage of all the benefits associated with your insurance plan.

FSA and HSA coverage of fertility treatment

A health care account like a flexible spending account (FSA) or a health savings account (HSA) can help pay the cost of welcoming a new baby into your family.  

An HSA account is a tax-free savings account that rolls over at the end of each year and can be used to offset health care costs. Only those with a high-deductible health insurance plan can open and contribute to an HSA. The money in an HSA can be invested and fetch you interest, as with a 401(K) account.

You can use these accounts to pay for fertility treatments, ultrasounds, clinic visits, and over-the-counter baby products and essentials you’re going to need during pregnancy and when the baby is born.

Since unspent money in an HSA is rolled over every year, you can save a lot of money for the future. If you are an American mom with an FSA or HSA, you will be surprised by how many products can help enhance your health. You can even cut down the cost of fertility preservation with an FSA by choosing to freeze your eggs until you’re ready to grow your family.

What is a fertility loan or an IVF loan?

IVF loans are regarded as medical loans, which are personal loans obtained to pay for medical procedures. Since personal loans are usually unsecured, it does not require any collateral, but your credit score needs to be high to get the best interest rate. Aside from being less risky, fertility loans come with better interest rates compared to other financing options available through fertility clinics.

However, it’s still good to check around and compare rates to be sure this is the case. What you do with your IVF loan is totally up to you. You may decide to use it to cover the costs of IVF treatment, frozen embryo transfer, or egg freezing if you just intend to preserve your future fertility.

Coastal Fertility: One of the most affordable IVF clinics in the US

Coastal Fertility is simply one of the most affordable fertility clinics in the US, providing extremely low-cost IVF treatment for anyone who desires to build a family.

How is affordable IVF possible?

One of the most common questions we get at Coastal Fertility is “how do we make affordable IVF possible.”

Well, the answer is very simple: it’s because we know just what to do.

The truth of the matter is that IVF does not really have to cost so much. Thanks to advances in technology, the cost of running a fertility clinic has reduced significantly since the beginning days of IVF. Although practices have benefited a lot from this, the reduction in expenses has not been extended to patients.

At Coastal Fertility, we believe that everyone has the right to have children and will do everything to make fertility treatment as accessible as possible. 

Are there any hidden costs of affordable IVF?

Surely, there can be little extra costs aside from our base IVF + FET package, and we break down our pricing (as most fertility clinics do) for a very good reason. It’s because most of the additional costs either vary (such as medication which is based on the protocol) or are not required by a lot of patients (such as genetic testing for gender selection or abnormalities). If these variables were to be included in the package, many people would be paying a lot of money for things they didn’t use or need. 

Our affordable IVF with Frozen Embryo Transfer includes what usually costs about $16,000. Note that the price will start to increase as you add more things.

However, it’s crucial to know the things included in our base cost and all the extra costs you may come across.

Alternative fertility treatment financing options

There are other financing options you can explore if an IVF loan can’t cover all or part of the things you need for your infertility treatment. You can use only these or combine them with other kinds of fertility loans.

Low-interest credit cards

If you want to pay for smaller fertility procedures that you will be able to cover in the coming year, then a % APR credit card is an option you may want to consider. Once you open the account, you are going to have approximately 12 months before interest starts to accrue. You will pay no interest as long you have repaid the whole amount before then. After this introductory period, the interest rate can increase to 25% or even more.  

IVF/fertility financing when you have bad credit

IVF loans are usually unsecured loans, so your credit score will be used instead of collateral to calculate the interest rate. If you have bad credit and need to fund IVF, a secured loan will give you a better interest rate. You may also want to consider a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit for financing your fertility journey.

Based on your level of income, you may be able to fund your IVF treatment through grants and other kinds of financial assistance provided by nonprofit organizations.

Fertility treatment grants

A lot of people are surprised to find out that there are grants to help families pay for fertility treatments. Although it may take some time to go through the terms and complete applications, you can get the fund for full or partial treatments through these grants. However, bear in mind that most of these grants have certain stipulations regarding the clinic to visit for treatment. Besides, not all fertility clinics take grants. So, you have to ensure that your IVF clinic accepts your grants.

Some organizations provide financial assistance to Intended Parents through grants or scholarships. Each website contains information about the requirements, so it is easy to know whether you or someone you know qualifies.

There are many scholarships and grants that can help cut down the IVF treatment costs in California. This assistance can come from various sources, such as state and federal government grants or private financial programs for IVF treatment. Besides, there are other financial assistance options that give you access to low-cost IVF in California. 

If you are interested in any of these grants, you need to have an open mind and conduct your research thoroughly before applying for one that best suits your needs and circumstances.

Below are some fertility treatment grants and scholarships and information, such as application process, the amount and number of each grant, requirements for those living in California, as well as award coverage regarding IUI, IVF, ICSI, PGD,  and egg donation. These grants help make fertility medication, egg freezing, and surrogacy more affordable.

National IVF grants

• AGC Scholarships offers scholarships and advocacy to more than 5 million couples dealing with infertility in the US.
• American Academy of Adoption Attorneys’ Family Formation Charitable Trust gives hopeful parents $500 to $2,000 to help pay the costs of fertility treatment and/or adoption.
• Baby Quest provides grants two times (May and November) every year. In addition to medications, Intended parents can also get between $2,000 and $15,000. The organization awarded 15 fertility grants this last year.
• Cade Foundation offers fertility grants to American citizens and has awarded an average of 7.3 grants annually over the past 10 years.
• Hope for Fertility Foundation provides grants of about $500 to $3,500 every June to American couples who are legally married and are diagnosed with infertility.
• Farcical Fertility grants are given out based on the individual’s financial need. Only single persons who earn below $75k and couples with a yearly income of less than $125k can apply. Grants are awarded in $5,000 and $2,500 increments for fresh and frozen cycles, respectively.
• Footsteps for Fertility gives out to grants that can be used for IVF (in vitro fertilization), FET (frozen embryo transfers), or IUI transfers occurring within a period of 12 months.
• Gift of Parenthood awards grants to help families become pregnant through advanced reproductive treatments, like IVF, IUI, embryo donation, egg donation, and surrogacy. They offer 4 grant cycles annually and grants typically range between $1,000 – $15,000. This organization focuses on inclusivity and its grants are open to all, including single prospective parents and LGBT. They do not discriminate based on age, reproductive history, gender, geographic location, or other factors that typically create barriers to those seeking grants.
• INCIID offers IVF scholarships at some national fertility clinics in New York, Georgia, and Connecticut. The organization awards one scholarship every month. Applicants are usually people who earn less than $65,000 a year.
• Journey to Parenthood offers at least one fertility scholarship of up to $10,000 every year that can be used to pay for IVF, IUI, or egg donation.
• Parental Hope Family offers grants every October of each year. People from anywhere around the US can apply, but at least one of the couples needs to be diagnosed with infertility, as stated in the grant applications. Interested persons must submit their grant applications by the 1st of September each year. 
• Pay It Forward Fertility Foundation gives out grants to women below 40 when beginning an IVF cycle. Applicants need to be American citizens or reside in the United States permanently.
• Starfish Fertility Foundation provides grants to Intended Parents in the US who are unable to get pregnant due to injuries sustained during active military service.

IVF grants for veterans and military personnel

• Bob Woodruff Foundation – offers an IVF grant of up to $5,000 to military veterans who
• Carolina Conceptions provides medication and IVF discounts to veterans and military personnel who are still in service. However, the applicant needs to be covered by TRICARE to qualify for other service discounts.

Other grants

• Men Having Babies offers gay Intended parents cash grants and discounts to help lower the IVF treatment costs and the costs of egg donation and surrogacy. 
• Samfund Grant provides IVF grants for patients with cancer. The organization gives cancer survivors up to $4,000 to use for their fertility treatment.
• Fertile Action’s Parenthood After Cancer Treatment (PACT) Grant is given to IVF patients with cancer. The organization provides discounted services for egg donation, IVF, or surrogacy to people who have been diagnosed with cancer or BRCA 1 or 2 genetic mutations.
• Tree of Life offers grants of up to $10,000 for intended parents of Jewish origin who reside in Texas and earn less than $100,000 a year.

California state-specific IVF grants

• Northern California Fertility Center offers one cycle of IVF (including medication) for free to six families annually.  There are quite a few qualification parameters and applications will be subject to review. Applicants need to submit their applications by the 24th of April every year.
• HRC provides a discount of up to 40% for military personnel or veterans still in service. Applicants need to reside in the following locations to participate: Pasadena, Laguna Hills, Oceanside, West LA, Newport Beach, Encino, Rancho Cucamonga, Fullerton, and Westlake Village.
• Defiantly Hopeful provides grants of up to $20,000 for patients pursuing fertility treatment in Mississippi or Orange County, California. Applications begin on the 15th of March and end on the 24th of May of every year. Recipient(s) are announced by the 15th of June of the same year.
• Hadisah Grants and Loans is a program that aims to provide affordable planning for infertility to the Jewish community. Grants range between $5,000 – $15,000 and while the number of grants can be variable, they try to award to everyone. This program is open to all Jewish applicants, including same-sex couples.
• Partnership for Families provides grants to individuals and couples who have been unsuccessful with past treatments to get a second chance. This organization also works to support those with genetic disease concerns and also those with cancer.

Crowdfunding for IVF

Chances are that you have gotten crowdfunding requests in your inbox or come across them on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms. Basically, crowdfunding is the practice of getting money for a particular cause from “the crowd.” It involves asking family members, friends, and colleagues for financial support.

If it goes well, crowdfunding can be an excellent way to raise all or at least some of the money needed for IVF. However, you need to note that crowdfunding is not for everybody. It requires having a wide social network and great marketing skills to make it work.

A lot of people think that crowdfunding is easy – that you only have to set up a GoFundMe page and start raising money. The truth is, it takes a lot of hard work, a big circle of influence, and good storytelling skills to succeed at crowdfunding.

The bottom line

Fertility treatments are no doubt one of the costliest out-of-pocket medical procedures a person can undergo. The stress of funding can make IVF treatments appear unachievable for a lot of people. But the good news is that there are many financing options around, so you may decide to seek fertility treatments using an IVF loan and/or other forms of fertility financing. 

Intended Parents have plenty of options when seeking infertility treatments. Our clinical outcomes show our experience in the field, providing you the peace of mind and reassurance that you’ve made the right choice with our proven expertise and state-of-the-art technology. Contact Coastal Fertility and let us discuss your personalized treatment plan.