IVF excludes the poor. Solution: taxes. December 09, 2018 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 12,434 |
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In 2016, after seven years trying to conceive, New York state assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte was pregnant with twins. At 13 weeks, she lost one in a miscarriage. At five months, she went into preterm labor, and rushed to a New York hospital.
Doctors turned her away, saying they couldn’t give her a bed because of insurance issues and because it was against “hospital policy” to admit pregnant women before 23 weeks. She was driven to another hospital, where her baby, Jonah Bichotte Cowan, died shortly after birth.
Now 45, with nine in vitro fertilization cycles behind her, and close to $200,000 spent on procedures and medications, Bichotte is determined to be pregnant again.
In many ways, she is a typical patient of in vitro fertilization, or IVF. She is highly educated, with an MBA and a master’s degree in electrical engineering; her salary of around $80,000 is 30% above the national median. Bichotte is also one of the lucky few whose insurance covered multiple rounds of fertility treatments.
After she reached her insurance policy’s limit, Bichotte spent $30,000 of her savings for one last cycle. When that failed, her doctor recommended trying donor eggs, a procedure that typically starts at $25,000.
“Even with the insurance coverage, there were a lot of other fees that I had to pay out of pocket,” Bichotte told me. “I just was drained.”
Her savings account emptied, and she turned to charity. In May of this year, she was awarded a $15,000 grant from Baby Quest, one of several dozen not-for-profit organizations that offer financial assistance to couples and individuals seeking fertility treatment in a country where it costs more than anywhere else on earth.
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While her private struggle continues, Bichotte is waging two public campaigns to give others a better shot at reproduction. The Jonah Bichotte Cowan Law, a bill she put forward in July requiring hospitals to treat any woman experiencing early labor, will hopefully pass in the new year. Another bill she plans to cosponsor will require insurers operating in New York state to cover infertility treatments.
“I think the solution is getting our states to cover IVF,” she said. “That’s how I can help contribute … to make this law that could change everybody’s lives.”
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Re: IVF excludes the poor. Solution: taxes. December 12, 2018 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 12,434 |
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mumofsixbirds
I would be fucking LIVID if I ever found out that one red penny of our tax money went for IVF treatments. I am fully AGAINST them and I would be writing my government telling them that. I don't care if I raise some bushy eyebrows, they would certainly get the message.
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Re: IVF excludes the poor. Solution: taxes. December 12, 2018 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 7,835 |
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yurble
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mumofsixbirds
I would be fucking LIVID if I ever found out that one red penny of our tax money went for IVF treatments. I am fully AGAINST them and I would be writing my government telling them that. I don't care if I raise some bushy eyebrows, they would certainly get the message.
Well, most European countries pay for it, and I expect the Canadian, Australian and NZ health systems pay for a few rounds as well.
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