So last night I was jumping up and down and crying and wanted to frame the approval letter (especially after having gotten one the day before that extended the amount of time they had to decide further than it had already been extended). And last night I was sobbing on the kitchen floor after opening another letter. And today things are ok again. No, I'm not Bipolar, I promise. This process is, though!
The second letter came from the PGD lab in Maryland. The one that had told me that they took my insurance and were in-network. The one that my insurance company had confirmed was in-network (not that I trust CareFirst for anything anymore). The letter said that the lab did not take insurance payments, only check or credit, and that the cost was $6250. It's a good thing DH was home already when I opened this one, because I think that's what kept the meltdown from being fairly epic, him calming me down (kinda). As it was, I was still trying to figure out how many years this would set us back.
My mom pointed out when I talked to her about it that all was not lost and that this didn't necessarily mean that insurance wouldn't pay and that I could possibly pay out of pocket (possibly with a loan from Dad) long enough to get reimbursed by the insurance company. I still don't trust CareFirst for anything, so this made me nervous, but I was up for talking more to Mom about it over the weekend to explore the possibility.
This morning, I got a call from my nurse, who said she had spoken to the people at the PGD lab and they needed my insurance information. Wait a second, what?? I thought they had just said they didn't take insurance payments! So I called the finance person at the PGD lab, and she said that they do actually take insurance payments, they just prefer not to since many insurances don't cover it. As I gave her my insurance info, I sagged in relief, which is probably what kept me from hitting the roof at them having frightened me like that for nothing! I'm still pissed about it. I wish I could just tell them what to do with that letter, but they're my only chance of being able to do a day 5 biopsy without freezing the embryos with money we don't currently have, since they're right across the hall from my clinic and can therefore get and test the samples in time for a day 6 transfer.
DH thinks that by the end of this, I'll end up writing a book about the finances of infertility. Mom thinks I should see if there are organizations out there to help couples with the insurance issues of infertility and start one of my own if there aren't any.
oy. vey. I hope it all works itself out in the end... Why is does getting pregnant have to cost so much? We joke that our kids will cost us less once they are in our arms! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, one of my best friends was commenting on how some religious traditions say that if we don't have our kids in this life, we'll have them and meet them in the afterlife, and then she added that it costs a lot less to get them in the afterlife. I about choked on my sushi roll!!!
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