New York Daily News Examines Fertility Treatment Costs

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 17 Aug 2006 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

The New York Daily News on Sunday examined the "steep" cost of fertility treatments in the U.S. that have "prompted wishful couples to drain savings, take out high-interest loans, go overseas for less-expensive care and even move to one of the few states that require some employers to provide coverage." Most health insurance plans do not cover infertility treatments and without coverage, one round of in vitro fertilization costs an average of $12,440, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. A woman on average needs two to three cycles of IVF to conceive, the Daily News reports. As a result of the high cost, many physicians have "skirted traditional medical conventions" and now offer "everything from creative financing programs to arrangements that resemble infertility insurance," the Daily News reports. According to ASRM, about 1% of infants born annually in the U.S. were conceived through in vitro fertilization (New York Daily News, 8/13).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations