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eLearning Series:
Your Most Popular Insurance Questions
Answers For Health and Home
Insurance
( 50 articles
in this series )
Insurance and
Your Infertility:
Found a Loophole?
Not to long ago there were many loopholes
that existed for infertility treatments for women. Most insurance
carriers found loopholes where the patient would have to pay
for these services and most of these women couldn't afford
them. Some insurance companies even would try to underwrite
them under different things to get away with out paying for
them. Luckily many state governments and the federal government
stepped in and put a stop to it. There are still some gaps
but more and more women are getting the coverage they need.
One of the biggest loopholes was that the states didn't want
to cover vitro fertilization as it could get quite expensive
and might not work all the time so insurance companies would
balk at this added expense. Now most states have listed this
as a non-necessary expense and covered it under maternity coverage.
Many states have balked at this idea and only a handful
of states are providing coverage for maternity expenses. Some
people even consider this practice of not giving coverage as
discrimination and they want the government to step in. Most
of the basic health plans have no coverage at all for this
type of medical treatment, which makes it hard for infertility
patients to get any help at all.
With
only 15 states having any kind of laws on the books to help
patients with infertility the problem just seems to be
getting no better. There are some new house bills that may
or may not be passed. The hardest thing is when women groups
are
going up against the big insurance companies and all their
money it makes it hard to get any laws passed. Progress has
been slow so far but they continue to push on. Approximately
over 5 million Americans have an infertility problem and about
only 20 % actually can get any help with the problem. Many
insurance carriers are reluctant to pay for any treatment.
Fertility
treatments can run upwards of over $30,000 dollars,
which makes it non-accessible to many Americans. Some states
are mandating more money for treatments but it's slow in coming.
Many companies are also reluctant to step forward and talk
about it as they fear it would spawn an increasing demand and
more expenses then companies want to cover.
Many
insurance companies have exclusions on infertility treatments
and this is something you will have to check on as it varies
by each carrier. Certain carriers will cover one thing while
another won't. The worst part is that there really is no universal
set of guidelines that the insurance companies are following
to make it easier for consumers. What many people don't realize
is the cost isn't really that much more for insurance companies.
So why won't they do it then? The answer is that it would bring
a flood of different fertility treatments to the forefront.
In other words what ones will they pay for and which ones won't
they? That's a very fine line and the insurance companies don't
want to go there and confront this issue.
What
recourses to women have left? First thing to do is check
their health care policy. Many companies still don't exclude
treatments in their policy. If it's not excluded then they
have to cover it. Also look under the pregnancy section to
make sure they don't limit what they will cover. Your last
recourse is of course to sue them and go to court and present
your case to the judge. He may or may not rule in your favor.
The only other real option is contact your congressman and
see if you can get the laws changed to make fertility treatments
mandated in all 50 states. This is the only way anything will
probably get done. Many people won't realize, until the loophole
is totally closed up, that money is always the insurance company’s
number one goal. And since fertility treatments are so expensive,
they will shun away from coverage. Hopefully one day soon the
loophole will be closed and every woman can get the treatment
she deserves when she wants it. This is one problem that has
an easy solution and now if we can only convince congress to
give the women of America a law that will help them instead
of hurting them.
Click here to to view health insurance quotes, compare plans side-by-side and apply for the most affordable health insurance within your budget. I did this myself (June 17, 2011) to change my health insurance policy. Saved me $84 per month (or $1,008 per year). It's my SolveYourProblem recommendation.
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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2005
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