Should IVF or infertility issues in general be covered by insurance companies? It’s a debate that rages on and so much so that it was mostly ignored during all the government health care reform debates. I suppose the fact that infertility treatment is so expensive in the US and it’s not something that anyone wanted to push on insurance companies taking on was the one thing they could all agree on during all those health care reform debates because you never heard any mention of it.

There was a great post online this week at the Newsweek site that asked the question ‘why is IVF so expensive in the US?’. In case you did not know the cost for getting infertility treatments in this county is by far the highest of most if not all of the developed countries in the world! That is a staggering fact considering how ‘rich and advanced’ our country is and that there are well over 7 million people effected by infertility in the US.

The article went on to share some news about an IVF lite clinic that opened up in the St. Louis area that is charging half the price of what most fertility clinics and doctors charge. The theory of course being that the more services that offer the treatments at cheaper prices that eventually they can drive the price of the market down.

Then you have the side of the argument about why insurance companies are not required to cover infertility procedures at least in most states apparently there are 15 states now that have passed state laws that consider the coverage necessary.  No matter how I look at the argument against insurance companies not covering IVF or IUI procedures it just does not make any sense!

I don’t think that all insurance policies should be required to cover IVF or IUI for example but rather there should be policies available to everyone that if elected will cover the infertility procedures but maybe you have to pay a higher premium for that policy. Trying to conceive a child is not a medical priority for everyone that has insurance but I think clearly there is an insurance market for such a policy that is not being addressed.

As another example that would fit this same situation is the fact that cosmetic surgery is not covered by insurance companies. Obviously there is a consumer demand for this type of insurance that I am sure most people that do want cosmetic procedures done just like the people who want the infertility procedures done would be willing to pay a ‘higher premium’ to have that insurance and reduce the over all expense.

I guess what I am thinking about here is a buffet style type of insurance where the consumer can pick and choose what types of lifestyle choices they would want covered by insurance and which one’s they know they will never have a need for. Come on people I know I am not the first to think of this why can’t insurance companies make this stuff happen? So freaking frustrating!

Oh I was almost going to post this before I remembered that I did not include the link over at the Newsweek site that got me going on this post in the first place. As always if you are reading this and you are fighting infertility be sure to pass on the link, share the information and don’t let IF win!