According to a new study, when insurance covers in vitro fertilization, more women struggling will use the method to improve their chances of having a baby. Researchers found that when the University of Michigan’s health insurance plan started covering IVF, use of the technology nearly tripled overall and increased by more than nine-fold among employees and dependents in lower-salary brackets, according to the report published in JAMA.
“It’s important to realize that infertility is a disease and unlike many other diseases, historically it has not been well covered by health insurance,” said study leader Dr. James Dupree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “Infertility does not appear to discriminate based on how much money you have or what kind of job you have. But people are not using IVF in the same way,” Dupree said. “Insurance can help mitigate those disparities.”
“As a urologist, I see the heartbreak, anguish and stress all the time,” Dupree said. “I tell people we have this great treatment that will allow you to have children with your DNA. Then they start asking how much it costs. When they say they can’t afford it, it’s heartbreaking.” When the University of Michigan began to cover IVF in 2015, Dupree and his colleagues saw an opportunity to study how big of an impact insurance coverage might make.
