Written Off Part 2

This morning my RE clinic called waking me from PTSD dreams.  I'm thankful for that at least.  I finally have a few answers.

J and I weren't imagining it yesterday when it seemed as though Dr. C. was overly concerned with the costs of my care.  Our insurance is doing cut backs.  The pharmaceutical companies are no longer donating extra medicines to our hospital.  Tricare is trying to disallow anyone under the age of 65 from using it as their primary insurance coverage, which means we'll be forced to buy into another insurance program soon, and if you are using Tricare then when you need a prescription that the hospital pharmacy doesn't have you are going to pay out big.  The formulary costs are now going to be raised to a modest $14 co-pay but the non-formulary are going up to $44 per script some time next year.  So far this is just proposed but each time a hike in our co-pays has been proposed it has been passed.

My infertility clinic here has had most of their funding cut because of the government budget cuts.  No wonder their score has dropped to a 41 out of 100.

• In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
• Gamete Intra fallopian Transfer (GIFT)
• Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
• Embryo Cryopreservation
• Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)
• Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
• Blastocyst Transfer
• Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)    

On 17 Apr of 2009 the above services were still available but not now.  http://www.mamc.amedd.army.mil/obgyn/Reproductive_Endocrinology.htm    When I first got to Lewis IUIs were still done at the clinic or so I was told.  But when they did renovations that was dropped from their list to no longer be added back.  If I need an IUI I have to go to Seattle Reproductive Medicine.

Nurse S said that they will no longer be doing P4, E2, FSH, LH or any other blood draws because of cut backs except for betas on me monthly.  I had requested a CD3 for next cycle but they can't afford it.

Nurse S told me that they will be able to continue to help me get pregnant through natural cycles and TI.  Well um, do I really need them then?  What are they going to be able to offer me?

This isn't  my only clinic that has cut back on their services.  I can't get appointments with rheumatology,  neurology, or  pain management within my hosptial.  Actually I can get pain management outside of the hosptial if I don't mind driving 1.5 hours to get to the place that they offered me.  But rheumatology and neurology services don't exist for me now with the budget cuts.  When I first moved here I was due to see a neurologist because of a car accident I had been in two months prior.  I got denied by my insurance for treatment.  I was however able to get an MRI within a week of my doctor requesting one and at the MRI clinic on post next to the hospital.  Now I have to wait for a denial letter from MAMC Tricare and a call from an imaging place off the installation to get an MRI.  Mind you the nerve damage in my back and neck is not getting better and I'm dropping things more often.

Still Tricare is better than no insurance.  Soon I won't have insurance when J no longer has his job.  Congress has really tied the military's hands.  We aren't getting the  medical treatments for our soldiers that they desperately need even with taking away benefits from the family members.

Congress isn't opting to take a pay cut but they are saying our military is overpaid in comparison to the civilian sector.  Hmmm, $25,000.00 a year for the average E-4 is too much?  I beg to differ.

Back in the 1990's- early 2000 I would have received my dental care, though I was paying for the insurance for it, through the dental clinics on the installation.  Now they only treat the soldiers.  I go outside the fence for dental care and the costs out of pocket are crazy expensive even with my insurance.

I'm beginning to think that if the military went back to using its own clinics we might have less available appointment but a better use of our funding.  When we go outside the fence for medical care we pay extra.  It's like paying contractors to do the same jobs that the military is capable of handling.  But we are paying more out of our budget to support the local economy.

My husband explained it to me the other day.  When his office runs out of the paper and ink supplies they need to create imagery they aren't allowed to go to the Express Supply on post which is run by the government for the government workers, instead they have to go outside the fence and support the local economy which does cost more.  But they have rules they have to follow.  Nothing like tying the hands the military with more stipulations.

Hope that this long post helps unravel the confusion.  I'm thinking it won't but I tried.

Adding Up The Costs

I want a baby.

What can I say?  My biological clock is winding down to its last tick.

But just how much will it cost me to get the baby I long for, dream of, love already without holding it?

This will be our second round of IVF.  I realize that many have gone through more and some have had success with just one.  We sort of had success with the first one in the fact that I did get pregnant but it just didn't stick around.

I still have eggs, that much is evident in the fact that I got pregnant again after losing JR.  But that one didn't stick around either.  Now its crunch time.  I'll be starting my injections on the 14th if the Antral Suppression Scan goes well.

I paid the IVF bill for this cycle on Wednesday.  I shouldn't have been shocked to be quoted a higher number but some how I was.  It went up.  Everything is going up in price these days.  If I knew for sure that I would need cryo preservation, at my age I'm realistic in the fact that I won't be needing it, I would pay an additional $1300.  I had the billing department take that off the bill and said to them that if I need it I'll be happily surprised and will gladly pay for that bill when it comes in the mail.

I'm lucky in that of the  $8,643.39 in medications for this cycle my insurance covered all but $12.00 of it.  But the insurance still didn't cover the almost $7,000.00 for the rest of the procedure.  Hey its still a break in cost.  I'll take a cost break where I can get one these days.

Our savings accounts are now almost depleted.  I really hope this works.  J only makes about 24K a year being a soldier and I have been having us live on half that amount so that we could pay for the two IVFs without having to bankrupt us.

Having this, our last IVF, over with a baby on the way would be a real blessing.  I know I can save in the 9 months of gestation to afford things for the baby since I've been living on very little since last January.  I say I since I do the finances here with J being so busy.  I know that I can squirrel away a college education or trade school fund too when the baby arrives by saving for its future.

If this doesn't work well then I guess I'll just put away money for vacations, a house, and retirement.  Living life on the cheap, not eating out and not going to the movies does make for a bit duller life but when you know you have money for emergency car repairs and won't have to rely upon the credit cards its rather nice.

I really want a baby.  I think that even if I had to pay full cost I would have but again this would be our last IVF.  I'm getting signals from my body that its getting really tired of all these hormones being pumped into it.