http://www.resolve.org/get-involved/family-act-of-2011.html
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Do Something June ICLW
A few days ago I received an email from the pharmacy that
handled the drugs from our IVF cycle. I
read it, and I couldn’t really believe what I was reading. Why hadn’t I heard of this earlier? Perhaps I’ve been too busy living under the
rock of self pity. However there is a
bill that is currently being proposed that would help to cover 50% of infertility
related medical expenses up to… a lot of money (Im way too tired to look the
actual value up, but a tax credit totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of
13k). The bill is called The Family Act of
2011 and it needs support. How do they
get that? Well, people have to contact
their local Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the bill.
Over the past year, family/friends/strangers have often
said, I wish there was something I could do to help you. Well, there is. I’ve provided a link to a RESOLVE
webpage. It provides sample letters, and
links to the webpage to get the addresses of the members of Congress in your
area. You can call, you can write, you
can email. If I know you in the real
world, I’m begging you to please follow through on this. If you’re here visiting from ICLW, well I’ve
read a lot of blogs and I’m pretty sure WE ARE ALL BROKE! You have the chance to do something about
it.
I’ve been working on my letter, because this has affected me
personally. No form letters here! I’m sure some people think… you have your
embryos, this doesn’t matter to you.
No! This does. We have embryos, but there is no guarantee this
is going to work. We still have a very
long expensive road ahead of us. I cant
begin to tell you how sickening it is that my insurance will cover an abortion,
it will cover rehab for a heroin addiction that I don’t have, but it wont cover
infertility treatment for a married couple with known medical conditions that
inhibit their ability to have a child.
For the record, for those who may not fully understand how
expensive and financially devastating this can be, we would have reached our
lifetime maximum amount after just one failed attempt at IVF.
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Hello from ICLW! I just finished sending messages to my representatives.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Thanks so much! We have to do our part. I would wish this on no one!!
DeleteI from ICLW. Congrats on your recent embryo match!!! I concieved my now almost one year old (gasp!) son though embryo adoption. I have added your blog to my embryo adoption bloglist on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI actually follow your blog! Thanks for adding me, your story gives me hope!
DeleteVisiting from ICLW. Thanks for the link, I will definitely have to check it out. Fertility treatments are so expensive and insurance companies should have to cover more. I am always jealous of the people who have coverage. Good luck with your adopted embryos!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I too am jealous of those people! If crackheads can catch a break, why can't we!?
DeleteI'm ready to write my letter and get some coverage for someone, anyone. God knows I don't have any. Like what you said about insurance covering all sorts of other disabilities but not infertility. It sucks! And sometimes I think the money side is just as painful as the emotional side. For the price of our failed IVF we could have re-roofed the house, painted it and gotten some new appliances. My hubby tells me not to think about that. Anyway, so excited to hear more about your embryo adoption.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I couldn't agree with you more about the money aspects. Tom and I equate everything to how many Weimaraners we could have bought. At this rate, our house would have been condemned for too many puppies, so I guess it's a good thing we wasted the money on a failed ivf!
DeleteI didn't know about the legislation. Thanks so much for posting!
ReplyDeletethe lack of coverage for infertility related issues is absolutely maddening, it pisses me off SO much. surely if it were MEN who got pregnant all this stuff would be passed by now and all insurance companies would be required to cover fertility treatments. we were very lucky the first time around as our old insurance covered SOME infertility services, but there was a maximum lifetime benefit of like, $4000 or something, which, as i'm sure you know, is nothing in the fertility treatment world. but, like i said, we were lucky because we ended up getting pregnant on our third iui, if we had needed ivf we would have been totally screwed. anyway, our current insurance doesn't cover any of it, so if we want to have another, we will be paying for everything out of pocket. anyway, i hope your insurance covers at least some of your treatments, i know how financially stressful it can be.
ReplyDelete