IVF Cost & safety net?

Hi ladies,
I'm about to start my first IVF cycle in 3 weeks. My clinic charges $7,106 not included anesthetist, hospital stay for EPU & Transfer which will be around 2k.
I haven't yet reach Medicare safety net yet. Another $650 to go :(
Im so confused right now about how to calculate how much I will get back.

Cost of my IVF will be separate to 4 items. First one will be around $5,500 then 200, 900 & 500 = $7,100

1) is that mean I'll have to pay first item full cost ($ 5,500)and got rebate 80% back from the rest of the items? Or they will take $650 off 7,100 then rebate 80% back from $6,450 (7,100 - 650 )

2) any way I can reach safety net faster? I thinking to go see doctor everyday and ask for US or BT so I can reach safety net.

3) any waiting period for phi? I'm with medibank for 6 months already.

Thanks so much!

I get confused with the safety net as well... I just pay upfront and then medicare deposits the rebate directly into my account each time....I get it as a lump sum, so I'm not really sure how it's broken up....

But the clinic is really good at answer questions - so I reckon if you give your liaison officer a call and ask they should be able to tell you exactly how much you will pay when and what the rebate will be.

join us in the ltttc thread..... don't know what I'd do without the ladies in there !!
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ml#post3122829

hopefully you won't be on your journey for very long - good luck!

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Or they will take $650 off 7,100 then rebate 80% back from $6,450 (7,100 - 650 )

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Pretty sure the above is the case. We hadn't hit the safety net yet when we cycled last year, but the cycle cost put us well over and we got back a lovely chunk

Thanks Myturn.

Im so exciting to start the cycle & really really scared at the same time. Everynight I lay down on my bed & thinking about IVF & pray to get bfp til fall asleep. I just don't know how to cope with the stress during the cycle! Oh goshhh..... :(

Mummynaomi : Do you phi cover the day surgery cost?

My phi covered part of the day surgery costs for both egg pickup and transfer but not all of it.
I have just done my first cycle you will be fine the girls here are very helpful.

my PHI covered the EPU and ET costs (Egg Pick Up and Embryo Transfer) - I didn't pay anything out of pocket at all for them....

it is anxiety provoking - especially the first time, as you don't know what to expect... but it will all just happen, and if you go with the flow, it's easier to manage....

but especially... keep busy during the TWW... that's where the painful waiting is!!!

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Mummynaomi : Do you phi cover the day surgery cost?

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Yep !

Hi Queenluxury - good luck with your first cycle!!

I'm in Perth too - I agree with MummyNaomi - your IVF bill will take you too the Medicare safety net and you should get the 80% back less the $650. Hope that makes sense:) one thing I didn't know that the BB girls helped me understand - when you pay your out of pocket bill for your stim cycle and you get a receipt (after the initial Medicare contribution) make sure you send your receipt for your out of pocket payment to Medicare - I got a second rebate from Medicare on this - which was a further 1500! several of the BB ladies explained this to me at the time.

My phi fully covered the hospital component of the EPU and FET - I'm with HBF top table.. But there was a 12 month waiting period for assisted conception.

Best of luck with everything! Xx

Thirdtimelucky77 : which clinic are you with? I'm with Hollywood :)
I will be paying full cost upfront then the medicate will rebate back straight into my bank account. So I need to bring a receipt of full cost that I paid to Medicare office, is that correct?

Btw Congratz to ur twins!! <3

Unless they have changed it back (ha ha), you do NOT get 80% of your out-of-pocket back for IVF. The IVF rebates are capped, so there is a maximum rebate you receive and it depends heavily on how your clinic codes their invoices/receipts.

When they brought the caps in (thank you ALP), our out-of-pocket expense for IVF increased by $2000 per cycle (from roughly $2000 to $4000+). And if you're lucky enough to get a BFP, your average OB will cost you an extra $2000 too (unless you go public) thanks to the caps they added to OB services at the same time.

You can find details on the medicare website, but it would be easier to speak to your clinic. Our clinic had a factsheet they handed out to help couple estimate their expenses and staff were also available to talk through it.

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Hi Queenluxury - good luck with your first cycle!!

I'm in Perth too - I agree with MummyNaomi - your IVF bill will take you too the Medicare safety net and you should get the 80% back less the $650. Hope that makes sense:) one thing I didn't know that the BB girls helped me understand - when you pay your out of pocket bill for your stim cycle and you get a receipt (after the initial Medicare contribution) make sure you send your receipt for your out of pocket payment to Medicare - I got a second rebate from Medicare on this - which was a further 1500! several of the BB ladies explained this to me at the time.

My phi fully covered the hospital component of the EPU and FET - I'm with HBF top table.. But there was a 12 month waiting period for assisted conception.

Best of luck with everything! Xx

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I went to medicare and double checked this, and they said that everything would be done electronically and there would be no additional rebates???..... hmmm... maybe my clinic does it differently???

Oh god.. The caps thing is confusing me!!
Why can't I just preg naturally ( :p ) so I won't have to go through IVF...stressed about getting bfp n the cost of treatment :'(

My clinic can do electronic claim for me also but I think I might go to Medicare office n do it myself.

Until next financial year (eg July 1), your medical expenses from THIS year (eg July 1, 2011 to June 30th, 2012) are eligible for 20% of out of pocket expenses rebated as part of your tax return. As of next year though, IVF (and I think OB fees) are exempt from this - or something like that :( It just gets harder and harder to afford!

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Until next financial year (eg July 1), your medical expenses from THIS year (eg July 1, 2011 to June 30th, 2012) are eligible for 20% of out of pocket expenses rebated as part of your tax return. As of next year though, IVF (and I think OB fees) are exempt from this - or something like that :( It just gets harder and harder to afford!

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ahhh... that's what the tax return thing is...! I asked the FS yesterday if there was some change with the medicare rebate on 1st july, and he said he hadn't hear anything... but that makes more sense that it's to do with the tax return....

good thing I've told my sister in law we are doing ivf.... as she is our accountant... ;)

It's 20 percent of your out of pocket expenses over $2000.

Queen luxury, it's not an automatic over the counter refund like normal claims. It takes a week or two to process.

Ahh thanks N2L, forgot the $2000 bit - and I think the threshold jumps up significantly next financial year, including exempted items :(

Yeah, it doesn't amount to much Naomi. It sounds better than it is :(

It is quicker to do the automatic claiming through the clinic.....I had my rebate from my April cycle back in my bank within 3 working days of them lodging it with medicare....if you go into medicare it can take up to two weeks. Has anyone found written proof of the new tax legislation....all I have been able to find is that the minimum threshold will now be means tested and for those over the threshold goes up to $5000. I haven't been able to find anything on the govt website about exclusions....

Melbel I read something about it but I'm fairly sure it said it wasn't coming in until July 2013.

Sorry for another silly question lol If I'm a stay home wife & didn't work, can I still claim my tax refund?
Fx this cycle will work for us because I don't know how am I gonna afford to pay for another cycle in the future :(

Your husband can claim. You can't because it's a rebate.

Queen luxury I would assume you only get to submit a tax return if you have earnt income and paid tax for that financial year. Have you had any earnings this financial year?

Mrs P i quit my job since 15 July last year LOL so I suppose I was working for 2 weeks in this financial year. That's mean I can claim my tax back right? O_o

I don't think so because you won't pay tax.

Thanks N2L. I absolutely got no idea about tax refund or anything!! So hopeless :p haha
I might have to go to see my accountant since I just sold one of the investment properties so I think that was consider as my income :/

Queenluxury, it doesn't matter about whether you had any income of not, but rather whether you will pay any tax as you can't get a rebate (money back) for tax paid if you didn't pay any tax, does that make sense? For example if you earnt under the tax free threshold, you would have earnt income, but not paid tax, so you wouldn't be able to apply for the rebate through your tax return and get your full rebate entitlement.

With that said, if you have a partner/DH who paid tax, then the medical expenses tax offset should be put through their tax return. This is a very straightforward rebate, so have a look at the ATO website and you will find details on what can be included in medical expenses (prescriptions for example can also be included).

As per below from the ATO website (have a look at the website and google 'medical expenses tax offset' which will give you more info).

The medical expenses tax offset only applies if your net medical expenses exceeds $2,060 excluding contributions to private health insurers, travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment or inoculations for overseas travel.

Hope this helps - any more Q's just let me know :)

You can only claim medical expenses for yourself and/or your dependants who are Australian residents for tax purposes.

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Has anyone found written proof of the new tax legislation....all I have been able to find is that the minimum threshold will now be means tested and for those over the threshold goes up to $5000. I haven't been able to find anything on the govt website about exclusions....

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Melbel - i rang Latrobe (my PHI). The threshold goes up to $5000, and the rebate goes down to 10% (from 20%). So if you pay 10000, you used to get 20% back on the $8000 (over $2000). Now if you pay $10,00 you'll get 10% on the $5000. So a big difference ($1,600 vs $500).

Yeah but only if you go over the means tested limit...if you are under the income threshold nothing changes.....what I was looking for is info on whether IVF procedures have been excluded from the Medicare tax offset in the new budget...some people have been talking About it but I can't find any verification in the budget statements.

Sorry for the delayed response Queenluxury - i was at Concept Fertility and it sounds as though maybe Hollywood has a slightly different system... Heres how it worked for us...

The total cost was approximately $6,900 from memory - but we didn't pay anything upfront at all. The EPU day surgery component was sent straight to HBF and paid (we didn't have a gap and never saw a bill for this bit but it was about $800 I think on top of the $6,900 I don't include in that amount as we didn't have to pay it).

We got a bill for the $6,900 after the cycle had finished. I posted the bill to Medicare and about 2 weeks later received a cheque for about $2,200 roughly) - I posted that to Concept. Then I paid the remainder on our credit card (about $4,600 - after paying that I got a receipt for the $4,600 and posted that to Medicare along with the original invoice. I electronically received another $1,500 approximate back into my bank account. Meaning my overall out of pocket amount was about $3,100 for the fresh cycle.

I always assumed we got the second $1,500 back because the second payment of the $4,600 took us over the safety net - does that make sense? We were always told a cycle would he between $3k and 4k out of pocket depending on additional things that may be required eg: assisted hatching, defrosting and regressing embryos (which we did prior to our FET to take our 3 x day 3 embies to day 5 blasts prior to transfer - costing another $750.

The tax thing totally confuses me - but I think as the others say it's 20% of anything over $2000. I believe next year it's 10% of anything over $5,000 but don't quote me on that bit!

Best of luck at Hollywood - I have heard great things about them. Concept were brilliant for me and my FS there has an unbelievable success rate (lately for some reason he is creating LoTs of identical twins:)

Xx

My IVF cycle cost about $7100 dollars as well and I got $4500 back from Medicare. As you pay over a $1000 you reach the safety net, don't know how they calculate... If another IVF cycle required you get about 500 dollars more back.

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Sorry for the delayed response Queenluxury - i was at Concept Fertility and it sounds as though maybe Hollywood has a slightly different system... Heres how it worked for us...

The total cost was approximately $6,900 from memory - but we didn't pay anything upfront at all. The EPU day surgery component was sent straight to HBF and paid (we didn't have a gap and never saw a bill for this bit but it was about $800 I think on top of the $6,900 I don't include in that amount as we didn't have to pay it).

We got a bill for the $6,900 after the cycle had finished. I posted the bill to Medicare and about 2 weeks later received a cheque for about $2,200 roughly) - I posted that to Concept. Then I paid the remainder on our credit card (about $4,600 - after paying that I got a receipt for the $4,600 and posted that to Medicare along with the original invoice. I electronically received another $1,500 approximate back into my bank account. Meaning my overall out of pocket amount was about $3,100 for the fresh cycle.

I always assumed we got the second $1,500 back because the second payment of the $4,600 took us over the safety net - does that make sense? We were always told a cycle would he between $3k and 4k out of pocket depending on additional things that may be required eg: assisted hatching, defrosting and regressing embryos (which we did prior to our FET to take our 3 x day 3 embies to day 5 blasts prior to transfer - costing another $750.

The tax thing totally confuses me - but I think as the others say it's 20% of anything over $2000. I believe next year it's 10% of anything over $5,000 but don't quote me on that bit!

Best of luck at Hollywood - I have heard great things about them. Concept were brilliant for me and my FS there has an unbelievable success rate (lately for some reason he is creating LoTs of identical twins:)

Xx

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Thanks darl. I having everything crossed!! I really want a twin but dh doesn't lol I just don't want to go through this again when we are ttc#2
I just start to do acupuncture also n the cost starting to add up now :/ but whatever it take to get my baby, I'll do it :D

Acu was a god send for me. I went 4 times a week for 3 months!! And he worked hand in hand with my FS. I went before and after my embryo transfer:)

I am a massive believer in the miracle of acu.

Bst of luck with your cycle.

X