Wednesday, October 24, 2007

My new Clinic and anatomical parts

Ok, so I got in touch with my new RE's office today since I refuse to step foot into Dr.Jackass' office again unless I am signing the release to transfer my records. The new place is two hours away, which means more time off work, but better care so in the end it's worth it. I was mainly concerned about the difference in cost compared to the local RE here. With my last IUI cycle including Follistim, Clomid, ultrasounds, and the IUI itself broke down as follows:

~Baseline co-pay: 30.00
~Clomid: 10.00 (go wal-mart!)
~Follistim+Trigger: 475.00
~Mid-cycle u/s co-pay: 30.00
~IUI: 196.00
~Total: 741.00....not too shabby in the IF world, so it didn't create TOO much of a dent.

Now, before I go into the new clinic pricing I must say this. According to the insurance lady there whom I just spoke with, because I am a new patient to Dr. "W" everything up until the IUI procedure will be billed diagnostically because that facility has never seen me before. AFTER the first IUI, everything will be out of pocket unless a different diagnosis other than infertility is discovered. This means that all my u/s and office visits for the first IUI is covered but if it doesn't work the first time around....I'm responsible for everything there after. So, in saying this, let's look at my first IUI round:

~Consult prior to cycle: 30.00
~Baseline u/s: 30.00
~Clomid: 10.00 (if doing combo cycle)
~Follistim+Trigger: around 1200.00 if I just do injects(maybe 1000 since I have 300IUs left over from before) or 500.00 for combo
~Mid-cycle u/s: 30.00
~Another u/s to check before IUI (I'm assuming this will be done): 30.00
~IUI(including lab fees for sperm washing, etc): 315.00
~ Total:950.00 (for combo)- 1635.00(for all injects)......hmm, thats a bigger dent, lol.

OK, now lets look at any following IUI's
~Baseline: 228.00
~Clomid: 10.00(if a combo cycle)
~Follistim: around 500.00 (1200.00 if just injects)
~Mid-cycle u/s: 228.00
~Another u/s check: 228.00
~IUI: 315.00
~Total: 1509.00(on combo cycle) - 2200.00 (all injects)

So, after my first IUI (if it doesn't work) Thomas and I have a lot to think about and I am highly considering taking out a loan for IVF because one or two IUI cycles ranging around 2000.00 equals about half of IVF, so why not go for the full sha-bang right?

This now leads me into my anatomical parts discussion. In the past 2 weeks with my OB I have learned more about my anatomical positioning than I learned in a year with Dr. Jackass. For instance, I have learned that my uterus tilts left, my left ovary is behind my uterus and most likely attached to it and my right ovary is retroverted(which means it faces my back basically). Now, Dr. Wonderful said this won't prevent me from getting pregnant (obviously) but it may hinder it and put me at a higher risk for ectopic. So, with all the financial aspects of my new clinic AND my newfound girlie parts information, I do believe IVF is in my future *if* my first IUI with Dr. W doesn't work. Sounds logical right?

3 comments:

Jen said...

So it looks like to me the big difference is that the IUI is more expensive (my doc charges $300 so that's within a normal range though) and you have to pay full cost of u/s's on cycles after your first IUI with them. Now that's what doesn't make sense to me. If your insurance was covering them on IUI#3 with Dr. Jackass then why wouldn't it cover it on IUI#2 with the new person? $228 seems a little steep for an u/s to me. I pay $135.

Jen said...

Oh, and by the way, it's pretty sad that we know our RE's price lists so well.

KatieM said...

Jen,
The reason I didn't have to pay for any of the IUI u/s with Dr. Jackass is because the insurance lady there (the ONLY good part of that clinic) billed every u/s as a diagnostic cyst checking u/s since "technically" the purpose for the u/s is to make sure the medications aren't creating cysts, lol. However my new RE clinic is an actually infertility center and does NOT bill it that way =/. Oh, and the 228 is 153 for the u/s and 75 for the doctor's visit and consult afterwards.

As for the price list, yeah its pretty sad. DH said something really funny tonight along that line. He goes "Well I know I have your heart, but your uterus has my wallet" LoL