How the Govt's changes affect me...

I just recieved 'the letter' from my FS stating how the goverment's changes will affect me....

1. The Commonwealth Government has capped the medicare safety net to limit the rebates to patients. Patients will recieve approximately $1500 less than previously.

2. The Commonwealth Govt has changed the medicare safety net to curb rebates if items are bulk billed. Patients must now b e charged the FULL cost of treatment upfront to enable full access to the MSN. FS can no longer bulk bill IVF item numbers.

3. The Commonwealth Govt changes mean that some components of the IVF cycle, (particularly ICSI and some medications) will now have to be billed seperately.

They also gave some examples of 'then and now'

===NOW===
Current cost of IVF cycle - $7500 - $8000
Patient Prepayment - $5000 - $5500
Bulk Billed to Medicare - $2500
Final Out of Pocket Expenses - $1000

===AFTER 1st JAN===
Cost of IVF cycle - $7500-$8000
Patient Prepayment - $7500-$8000
Bulk Billed to Medicare - $0
Final Out of Pocket Expenses - $2500

The only really, I guess positive thing that has come out of it is the cost of subsequent cycles is reduced by $500.

I really don't know what to do?! Do I do a cycle this year even though I feel so rushed and unprepared - because that would mean I pay less upfront and get more back? Or do I do my cycle in April/May when I planned???

Raghhhh...:wall: :wall: :wall:

Anyway - just thought i'd post this to give an example on how it affects someone...

Thanks for taking the time to lay it all out for us. I'm curious about the patient prepayment, though, because at my clinic I have always had to pay for the whole amount up-front, and after EPU I get an invoice from the clinic and can then claim the money back from Medicare. And can I ask why the subsequent cycles are reduced by $500? Is it because you're more out of pocket, or are subsequent cycles now less expensive?

Re advice on when to do your cycles, that's a tricky one. If $$$ is an issue, perhaps this year. But then I tend to think it's best to try to time it so your out-of-pockets are incurred early in the year and you have the whole year to do as many fresh/frozen cycles as you can to keep the $$$ down. It is a calendar year, isn't it; not a financial year?

I think that each clinic does things differently as I had to pay the full amount upfront and then claim it back from medicare.

Also the out of pocket costs are different depending on whether you have private health cover or not. We don't so had to pay for the hospital fees and anaesthetist bill.

We were out of picket by around $2500 (that was QFG in Brisbane).

Sue xx

Its all so confusing, not to mention unfair :(

I am waiting for an update from my clinic (City Fertility in Bris) to see where I stand. It breaks my heart that some of us will be at the end of our road because the govn says the FS's are charging to much.

Infertility is hard enough without having our hopes ripped away.

Hi all, just thought I would add to this thread as we've just paid for our latest IVF/ICSI cycle. We're with QFG Brisbane, and our out-of-pocket was close to $900. But we had already hit the safety net and we haven't been prescribed those pricey needles that others have talked about. It will be interesting to see how much extra things will be next year. Thanks to the Rudd government!