The Cost involved with IVF

[dee81]

yes thats right

[nic]

Dee, Do you have the QFG price list?
I went to brissie, so wouldn't be able to help you out with the cost for Lance but could give you the other QFG prices

Nic

[dee81]

that would be excellent we haven't started going yet have an appoinment in feb so was just enq before it all started

[nic]

Ok, here's the pricing

Standard IVF cycle is $5500. If you are having an IVF/ICSI cycle the price is $5880
We just claimed this from medicare and already had a little money contributed to our safety net balance so got back a couple of hundred dollars more than we thought we would, somewhere just over $4100. They tell you that you need to be able to carry this cost for around a month as they don't send out the proper invoice/receipt with the medicare item numbers until after you've had pick up and transfer.

There is a registration fee which is $185, and is not claimable from medicare, so be sure to keep the receipt to claim at the end of the financial year.
If using donor sperm, the registration fee goes up to $485, don't know why it's dearer though? We paid the reg. fee then had our nurse interview over the phone as we are too far away.

Embryo Storage is $150 every 6 months and the first 6 months is included in the $5500 payment.

Progesterone pessaries are $45 for 15 and
Crinone is $180 for a box 15. Our nurse told us that we would get 2 free packets of each of these after transfer, but we only got the 2 boxes of Crinone. Have just needed to get 2 more boxes of the pessaries and we were charged $100.10 for the 2. It says if you get a postive test they may continue you on the pessaries up till week 11. I took the receipt to our health insurance and got $50 back from the $100.

QFG Day Theatre fees are $795 for IVF and $240 for Embryo Transfer, obviously billed straight to your Health Insurance.

Anaethetist fees are approximately $500. Though it says it can vary considerably. We were lucky enough that the anaethetist who saw me billed our PHI and medicare and sent a bill for just our out of pocket costs which came to $129.

Doctor's fees for pick up and transfer are approximately $680. this bill i haven't received yet as we were seeing dr khoo in rockhampton for our scans and picking up our injections and went to brissie for pick up and transfer.

If you go onto a frozen transfer, it is $1395 and the medicare rebate is $567.80.

Hope I haven't confused you too much Dee. I found it rather confusing when I got all the paperwork originally, but our nurse went through every piece of paper with us, in the pack.

If you have any other questions, I'll gladly try to answer them for you

Goodluck

Nic

[dee81]

thanks nic it is a lot to take in at once but at least it gives us a bit of a guide to go by i'm sure it will get clearer as we go along. we have our blood tests and sperm count next week and then we dont see lance untill early february so that gives me a bit of time to get my head around it all but hears hoping that it all goes well. thanks for all the information i really appreciate that you took the time to get it all back to me.

[nic]

No probs Dee Happy to help

oops, forgot to add, goodluck with your tests
Nic

[melaniemac]

I 've been on Clomid but 2 miscarriages later, I think IVF is the next step. What are the costs- we have top private cover so I guess I may as well use it before I loose total faith in ever having a baby. Anyone out there had success?
Thanks guys
MElaniemac

[slyder]

Melanie, it really depends which clinic you intend to use as to what the costs may be.

It sounds like clomid is working for you from a technical perspective. Perhaps you should talk with your doctor or FS and see if you should stay with it for a bit longer? It's not uncommon to have multiple m/c's and go on to have a happy and healthy little'un.

[nic]

dee, Just wanted to drop back in to let you know that I got our QFG newsletter the other day and there will be a slight increase in prices as of Nov/Dec this year. It didn't say how much of a slight increase there would be though.

Nic

[mummy2chloe]

nic

you said that you were seeing dr khoo in rocky?? well thats who i have been seeing for a few yrs now, any way he just retired on december and he has refered me to a dr prasad and he is in rocky aswell, just wondering if you have seen him before or know anything about him?? as i havent seen him yet and just wondering what sort of person i might get iukwim?? also i was told about a dr layden who is also in rocky and he also does ivf in rocky at the monash ivf, just wondering if you have herd about him as well??

did you ever go through the ivf clinic in rocky?? as we were thinking about going through them as travelling to brissy would be a bit hard on us ( financially, and we have a child that has just started grade 1) do you know if there any good??

look forward to hear from you

take care

[nic]

mum2chloe, yep was seeing Dr Khoo, I was his very last patient, they said they were closing the books on me I wished he could've been our OB.

Anyway, I've heard good (and some bad) about Dr Prassad, but then I heard the same about Khoo. I've heard nothing but excellent things for Leyden, especially when he was practising as on OB too. We never went through the clinic in Rocky, we had wanted to stay with Khoo, so went with him through QFG.
My BIL has friends who went with Prassad and BIL mentioned to me that they had 3d u/s images, not sure if they were with Prassad directly or through the Monash clinic? Friends of our used Prassad as an OB, they were first timers asking lots of questions and the hubbie mentioned to me that he felt like they were always being brushed aside if they asked too many questions.
I haven't had any direct dealings with either of them though, and I think that sometimes people have completely different experiences with the same doctor. (Like us being told Khoo had a horrible bedside manner. We thought he was great, straight forward and always making us laugh)

I think Rach (Rach75?) has been through Prassad from memory? I think I last saw her posting in the TTC 6+ months thread?

Goodluck

[mummy2chloe]

thanks heaps nic

yeah i love dr khoo and was very upset when he told me he was retiring plus i loved carol, she was such a sweetie ( i had been with khoo for 7 yrs, absolutly think the world of him)

i think i might book an appointment with both dr prasad and dr leyden and see which one i feel i like?

where do you live?? are you in rocky??

[~BecD~]

Hi all, just a question about fee's, if/when your clinic has put up their fees, have you always been notified? Is a new schedule of fees sent out to you? Do they have an obligation to let you know?

We had dramas this cycle because we were charged more than we were told, they put the fees up at the clinic and didnt tell anyone - apparently there was a sign in the waiting area, but i really dont think that is good enough.

We have been lucky though, I argued my point and they have sent us a cheque to refund the difference between what we were quoted and what we were charged, but for future reference I guess it would be good to know where we stand.

[slyder]

Bec, SIVF sent us a letter to state that they were increasing their fees. Although the amount by which they raised them (and the error they had in the nationwide letter) caused a lot of grief.

[Minky]

When I paid my new account with MIVF, I noticed there was a disclaimer at the bottom that said that they have the right to increase fees at any time. Whether that covers them from any legal dispute I dont know. Anyone know what Medicare rebate on ICSI ?

[anney]

BecD,
at monash IVF they don't do a mailout to all patients when their fees go up. You just get the list of fees given to you at the beginning of your cycle, and usually have to pay it straight away so not much chance of it changing. I don't even remember seeing a sign in the waiting room when ours went up.

[Baby Bliss]

Bec G - I am with MIVF and do ICSI. ICSI is an extra $377, correct? We got $301.60 back, so were out of pocket a mere $75.40 on the ICSI.

[Minky]

Thanks Kell,
Whoohoo that sounds good to me