IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

Just curious where you had the procedures done? My sis in law has the same insurance and had her's done in the office and it was 75% covered. The insurance that we both have is GHI for office visits and Empire for hospitals. Unfortunately, I just found out that my Dr. does the procedures in the hospital, and the Empire coverage does not cover any IVF. So, instead of the fresh cycle costing me $1,200, it'll cost close to $4,000. (GHI is still going to pay for 75% of the embryologist fees, blood, etc.).

I was thinking of switching to another dr. to save money, but we decided to try one fresh and a frozen cycle with my current dr. I really don't want to switch now, even though we'll have to struggle to pull together the extra money.

It just stinks that we are getting screwed over a technicality.

Re: IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

Is your Dr. an RE?? I think most REs are set up to perform the procedures in-house.

My IVFs were done at the clinic my RE is at.

Re: IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

i have ghi with empire for hospital. my doctor, dr. brenner at li-ivf, does transfer and retrieval at mather hospital. i had to pay upfront for the retrieval and 2 transfers.

unfortunately, i had to pay mather hospital for other things too, seperate from my dr. bills, at least another 2000. after awhile, i didn't even now what i was paying for, but i do know that even with insurance, i ended up paying over 15k after all the other charges and copays, etc. for the whole process.

i wish kara would send the refund fairy over to queens.

eta: i had genetic tests (pgd and cvs) done so my overall charges were much higher than yours might be. i hope i didn't freak you out about money. i just wanted to show you, that even with insurance things add up. good luck!!

Message edited 3/22/2007 7:26:54 PM.

Re: IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

I used NSUH also and got that lovely charge. I think this happens with all the hospital based clinics.

And apparantly some non-hospital ones that use hospital space.

Re: IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

I also use Dr. Brenner.

They quoted me with $2,690 for the hospital, plus the 25% GHI copay for the embryologist fees, blood, etc.

I think the $2,690 is for the actual ambulatory aspect and anesthesea.

What "other" fees did Mather charge you, or is that rolled up in the $2,690?

DH and I sat down and decided to that we really don't want to switch dr.'s, at least for now. We are hoping it'll work the first try, and if not, hopefully, they'll be some frozen leftover and the frozen transfer is a lot cheaper (like $1,200).

kara--What practice do you go to?

Re: IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

Re: IVF retrieval/transfer--Hospital or Dr's office??

Thanks.

It sounds to me that the additional bill from Mather was the 25% copay for the embryologist fees, etc. OR the extra $1,000 they estimated on top of the $2,690. It doesn't sound like they are taking advantage of you. It sounds pretty consistent with what they told me (if I am understanding you correctly).

I feel the same way. I really want to stick with Dr. Brenner.