Sydney IVF Raises Prices

Ruf, that's exactly our situation. Well said.

But, as I said, I can't fault their service or their knowledge. It's been exceptional.

For thos that have used SIVF, and have been able to claim back on medicare, can you help me out and let me know how much your upfront, and how much you got back??

Thanks

Hi Blizzy,

I have done 4 cycles with SIVF, but only have my last 2 details with me at work...

Paid in May: 8362.70 and got back from Medicare 6117.30 (ICSI cycle)
Paid in Sep: 8352.70 and got back from Medicare 6101.85 (ICSI cycle)
Haven't paid for the current cycle as yet. Waiting for the current bill.

Hope this helps.

Blizzy, for our stim cycle we paid $5692 I think, and got back $4050. Plus $200 Lucrin and $50 PHI Hospital excess (usually $200, but used our annual member bonus thingo). Plus we hadn't quite reached the Safety Net at that stage.

For our current FET, we paid $2226 upfront and should get back something like $1900. Oestrogen tablets, pessaries and hospital excess extra.

But after Nov 1 (with their new prices) the game changes.

Hi Ruf,
You mentioned level of care with your Dr was great. Did your Dr assist you through the cycle as well? Or were you carted off to visit nurses, embryologists etc? Maybe that is one of the reasons why SIVF is so expensive versus others. Even though paid much less at my clinic - felt like level of care could have been more.
I was considering SIVF after my current cycle, but am confused now. Will see what my FS says today about my previous cycle.
Mon :)

I cannot fault SIVF Newcastle at all, the Dr's are great, the nurses are one of a kind they treat u so personally and kindly, you never feel like your just another 'patient' to them, i truly would not go to another clinic.

my up front costs were

STIM CYCLE
$4070, Medicare rebate = approx $2400
(additional day surgery cost were required as we are not privately covered)
Day Surgery for EPU = $1176
Day Surgery for Hubby Sperm Retriveal $976
Day Surgery for ET = $473

NATURAL FROZEN EMBRYO TRANSFER
FET Transfer Upfront $1370 (still havent recieved medicare rebate but it will be the full 80% back)
Day Surgery For ET = $473

The day surgery costs can be claimed back on tax although from memory u only recieve about 20% back - better then nothing though

Oh and by the way SIVF Newcastle managed to get me a BFP on my 2nd Transfer.

I'm the same as Ruf & Hopefull, couldn't fault SIVF's care at all. I called during my cycle a ridiculous amount of times & never felt like it was a hassle for someone to talk to me. I dealt about 85% with the nurses (one in particular mostly) and the rest with our Dr. They dealt with my drip phobia very well at egg collection when I had to have the sedation cannula in my hand. Even after my BFP, at around 7 weeks, I had my favourite nurse ring me just to see how I was going.

Mon - Having not actually completed a cycle with SIVF I can not comment on that. My Dr told me he would personally do all my procedures, excpet for his annual leave time, but he would introduce me to his replacement. I did meet with the nurses, but was given a team of three that would be looking after my cycle, along with my Dr.

Even though I ended up getting my BFP naturally, My Dr has continued to be really supportive of me and has made many follow up calls to both me and my DH during the time I have know him.
Good luck with your journey.
xo

Same Ruf, our Dr did all of the procedures. I had a team of three nurses as well, but only really dealt with two of them as the other was working less because her bub was very close to being due ;)

OK, important update on this one. DW spoke to our nurse this afternoon and she (nurse) has been trying to sort it out with HO. According to the nurse our clinic (I can't comment on the others) will actually be charging $7840 for ICSI (up from about $6100 I think), and you'd be out of pocket about $1550 with full rebate. So for straight IVF she said deduct roughly $300 from outright amount.

A FET will be $2826 (up from $2226) and it would only cost about an extra $100 out of pocket after full rebate.

Nurse says this is due to our clinic's hospital admission being a totally separate affair, ie we either pay for it or your PHI does and therefore they can't charge you for it in their fees. So if this is correct I wonder if they intend to send clarification letters?

Hopefully what she says is right.

sorry to intrude,
but i just wanted to say congratulations to HOPEFULL83:dance:on her pg.
we go through the same clinic and it is great to see that miricales can happen

Thanks heaps Smithy, im over the moon - and cant believe it happened on my 2nd attempt, first frozen transfer and all!!

Miracles do happen yes!!

is anyone aware of whether the Medicare rebate / threshold changes are now known for 2008? the letter from SIVF said the out of pocket expenses would rely on a decision on 1 November on these things.

Excellent question Dusty, and to be honest I had forgotten. I have looked at the SIVF website and they appear to have clarified their position after their original letter. Go to the current fees section and you will see that they've made it a flat cost structure as previously stated, but they've added a column for day surgery fees for the Sydney clinics where it's applicable. That's where they ****ed up in the first place - they made out that everyone had to pay a $1500 hospital fee.

thanks slyder, the price jump for canberra doesn't look as big as it did in the letter. only (can't believe i am saying only!) an 18% increase rather than 39% it seemed to be. pretty bad handing of communication IMO. the cynical side of me wonders whether it was a tactic to make us feel better with only an 18% increase....hormones are going wild on my emotions/theories here......

Yep, I think that will be because you don't have the hospital fee that is applicable to the Sydney clinics, and nor do we. How they've expressed it on the website makes sense to me, more or less, unlike that bloody letter. I'm quite surprised they didn't seek to clarify that formally.