I am taxed at the highest rate (haven't bothered changing it since I paid off my HECS debt). For the IUI cycles and the first IVF cycle we paid using tax and savings.

For this last cycle we borrowed some money from my parents and paid the rest on a credit card. We paid $5200 for our last IVF cycle and received $3800 back from Medicare.

We decided to go ahead with the last cycle as our FS told us that the fees would be going up by at least $2000 more this year, as we would be expected to pay all fees upfront. He was also unsure how much return we would get via Medicare because of the new laws.

BTW, whatever you cannot claim through Medicare you can claim through tax. You will get back roughly 20 - 30% of the amount.