29 Mar Women With Health Insurance for IVF More Likely To Have Successful Live Birth
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jungheim
Emily S. Jungheim, MD, MSCI
Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Washington University
St. Louis, Missouri
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Many women with health insurance lack coverage for fertility treatment so they end up being self-pay for fertility treatments which can be expensive and limit access to care.
15 states have responded with mandates for employers to include fertility coverage in their employee insurance benefits, and 5 of these have comprehensive mandates that include IVF. Illinois is one of these states. Washington University is located on the border between Illinois and Missouri so our fertility center treats a number of women with coverage for fertility treatment and a large number of women who are self-pay for fertility treatment. We suspected that women requiring IVF to conceive were more likely to follow through with treatments if they had coverage so we decided to look at our data.
Ultimately we confirmed our suspicions. Women with coverage were more likely to come back for additional cycles of IVF if they didn’t conceive. Ultimately this ability to come back for additional treatment cycles led to a higher chance of live birth.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: For women requiring IVF to conceive, having coverage for IVF as part of an insurance plan is associated with improved access to care and a higher chance of having a live birth.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: More work needs to be done to improve access to care for people with infertility.
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Last Updated on March 29, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD