Companies consider insurance for in vitro fertilization

By H.J. CUMMINS
Thursday, April 05, 2007

Having babies by in vitro fertilization seems like a personal or scientific matter _ the longing for a baby and the skill of petri dish procreation.

But it's also a workplace issue. Almost two-thirds of Americans get their medical coverage through their employers, and studies say fewer than one in five employers covers the procedure. Its costs quickly top $20,000.

Now comes Resolve, a national group advocating for more fertility coverage, with a new pitch: Employers, if you add in vitro coverage, you will save money.

In a survey released last summer by Resolve, 91 percent of employers with the coverage said they saw no increase in their medical costs. The full report, by William M. Mercer consultants, also quoted a recent New England Journal of Medicine article that said the 14 states with mandatory infertility insurance had lower rates of multiple births, and the higher risks of expensive complications that come with them.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is considering adding the coverage as early as next year. "With respect to some of the research out there, including the Resolve organization's, we're reviewing all of it very closely," said Jan Hennings, a spokeswoman for the insurer. "We've actually been looking at this for quite some time."

Other insurers and employers remain skeptical that such a pricey treatment won't add to already stretched medical budgets.

"The richer the benefit, the more the cost," said Larry Bussey, spokesman for Medica, a health insurance company based in Minnetonka, Minn.

Andy and Daonna Start of Plymouth, Minn. have been on the board of the local Resolve group since shortly after their son, Zachary, was born seven years ago through in vitro fertilization. Prudential Insurance Co., then Andy's employer, covered most of the $16,000 bill.

Still, the Starts owed a chunk _ $5,000 to be exact _ which they managed only because they had two incomes, arranged a payment plan and got pregnant in one try, Daonna Start said. If they had needed more, each additional attempt would have cost about $11,000. "Honestly, at the time we had no idea how lucky we were," she said.

The Mercer report included other cost-saving arguments:

_ Employers now pay "hidden" fertility costs, when people wishing to conceive have surgeries that are covered by their plans _ removing abdominal scarring for women and varicose veins in men, for example _ instead of cheaper and more effective treatments such as in vitro fertilization.

_ In vitro fertilization accounts for fewer than 3 percent of infertility services, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.