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Infertility IS A Medical ConditionDec 10 '00 (Updated Dec 14 '00) Write an essay on this topic.Even if you have never had any infertility issues or even known anyone who has...please read this review in its entirety. I recognize it is long. But the information is very important. After about 9 months of trying to get pregnant, I began researching possible reasons why we were not having any luck. I purchased a book titled "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" and I searched medical and infertility websites. Armed with the information I acquired, I decided it was time to consult a doctor. Fortunately I have a fabulous doctor who was able to fit me into his schedule in only two weeks. Many Ob's will not even see a patient who is trying to conceive until they have been trying for over a year. I explained to my doctor that my cycles have been running 45 or more days in length. Every month when my period is late I get excited and take a home pregnancy test only to get the negative result. I had been charting my basal body temperature for two months and based on that we concluded I am not ovulating. My OB felt it was important that I see a specialist in infertility. He referred me to a Reproductive Endocrinologist or RE for short. Because my OB was certain that there is a problem, he convinced the RE to fit me in quickly. I was able to see him less than a month after the initial visit with my OB. I have heard horror stories of women having to wait 6 months or more to get an appointment with an RE and this is after the required 12 months of trying to conceive! My appointment with the RE was last week. I really like him and feel that he is very attentive to what is happening with me. He respected the fact that I had been doing my own research and was interested to hear what I had learned. Although he was not willing to make any sort of diagnosis without doing tests, he did think that my concerns and suspicions are valid. One of the conditions that I may be dealing with is PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS. Insulin resistance, a problem in some ways similar to diabetes, often causes PCOS. Because the cells of your body can not process insulin and glucose properly, the body produces unusual amounts of certain hormones. Often the hormones necessary for an egg to mature are produced, but the hormones required for the egg to be released are not sufficient. The mature follicles then form the tell tale cysts on the ovaries. From a health standpoint, infertility is not the greatest problem associated with PCOS. Women with PCOS are often obese because their bodies can not process glucose properly and so it is stored in fat cells. There is a tremendous increase in the rates of heart attack, stroke, adult onset diabetes and other conditions associated with PCOS. Often PCOS is only discovered, however, when a woman realizes that she is infertile. The information on PCOS is provided not because I have been diagnosed with it, although I am a very likely candidate for the diagnosis. I give you this information so you will understand where I am coming from when I tell you what happened next. As I mentioned I liked my doctor and felt very positive as I left his office to go check out. I had the comforting feeling that whatever information came back from the tests, it would be OK, we would handle it. Then came the shock. As I handed my paperwork to the receptionist and prepared to write a check for my copayment I was told "that will be $250. please." I was floored!! I have a 20% copayment plan. How could this visit have cost so much that $250 was my 20% copayment. I was then informed that my insurance would not be covering this visit, nor any of the bloodwork, ultrasounds or other diagnostic tests,....my policy has an exclusion that doesn't cover infertility treatment. The very kind office manager came to the front and asked me if I would like to come to her office and talk about the situation and we would try to find some solutions. She called the insurance company to double check, and yes, she was right the first time, I had no coverage. I pleaded with her, don't you understand, this could be a life-threatening problem? Shouldn't they at least cover the diagnosis?!! If the insurance company didn't want to cover any of the treatments to help me become pregnant that would be one thing, but they are refusing to pay even for the tests to determine what might be wrong. Don't they realize my health could be in great danger? She assured me that she understood, however, health insurance is a business and because infertility treatments can be very expensive, many policies have these exclusions written into them. Even though the conditions which cause infertility can have other, often very serious consequences, the rationale is that you can live a normal life without bearing children. I know many of you reading this are saying "that’s true, and I don’t want my premiums to go up so you can have a baby". I contend that infertility is no less a medical problem than diabetes, cancer or any other illness. Something is wrong with my body that will not allow my reproductive organs to function properly. Nothing in our bodies is isolated. If there is a problem with one system there are bound to be effects from this felt on other systems as well. INFERTILITY IS A MEDICAL PROBLEM. And some of the causes of infertility can be life threatening. However, because these problems are often not identified until the woman realizes that she can not get pregnant the insurance company deems them “infertility” and the woman is denied coverage. Women must not be discriminated against and denied health coverage for such a serious condition as infertility. I hope this information makes you angry and willing to fight. There is currently a bill before congress called the "Fair Access to Infertility Treatment and Hope Act of 2000". This legislation can be viewed at the following link. http://members.tripod.com/~faithact/S2160.html This is actually the third time a version of this legislation has been introduced. This bill would require insurance companies to cover infertility diagnosis and treatment when deemed necessary by patient and physician. Isn't it amazing that it would literally take an act of congress to force insurance companies to cover necessary medical treatment? Isn’t that what we buy health insurance for? If all of us concerned with women’s health in general, or infertility more specifically stand together and let our Congress know that we want this bill passed then hopefully there will be changes made. For more information on infertility: http://www.resolve.org/ http://www.inciid.org/ http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/infertility.html To sign an online petition: http://www.i-charity.net/bin/ptn/77/thref/73226 To learn how to contact your congressman: http://www.congress.org/ For a sample letter to send to your congressman: http://www.resolve.org/advltr1.htm  |
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