[luv2BAmom]

I went thru IVF 10 years ago & am planning on trying again. I have spoken to several clinic trying to find "the one for me". When I have asked about the cost of meds I was told by one clinic $2000-$2500 and another told me $4000-$6000. Does anyone know why there would be such a big difference? How much have you ladies spent on meds? Does anyone know of companies that have better prices than others on meds? I would like to get as much info as possible on Lupron & Gonal-f. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. A lot has changed in the last 10 years in IVF!!!

[hopefulmom2be]

My insurance covered the lupron kit, the estrogen patches, valium, aspirin. I had copays with those. I was on Follistim & repronex stims and they were expensive. My total cost for one cycle of meds was $2700. You must remember that not everyone is the same. The first time they had my protocol to only include 2 vials of follistim. Second time was 3 vials. That one medicine alone is $650. Best of luck to you. Oh, try IVP Care. They have all the little money saving programs to enroll you in that will save you $$$$.

Christy

[dizzyb]

My first time through cost was about $2500. This time it will be a little more because they have upped my does from the start, which amounts to another $50 a day.

[mdbrum16]

I went through Freedom Pharmacy and my meds cost $2250.00 they said I was on the lower end of the costs and it would vary depending on your protocal.

[susanmcburg]

I agree with everyone -- it's so hard to pin it down. Lots of people use Freedom Pharmacy. I have heard people ordering meds from Europe, too. Also, there are some message boards around where people are trading/buying/selling their meds. You could try this one garage sale site -- I think it's free garage sale or something like that.

You could ask your RE if they have meds that they give away.

My insurance covers my meds but if I had bought them, it would have cost about $3k.

[charms]

some of the meds should be covered by insurance. check your insurance companys formulary drug list...if they are on there, you only need to pay the copay...they cannot deny them based on why they are being used.

[varunika2007]

My insurance didn't cover any of my fertility medications. It just covered aspirin, vicodin and things like that.. Lupron and all the injectibles including gonal f were out of pocket. I used freedom pharmacy. THey have the cheapest gonal f. Try their website. My medication costed me around $2000.

[jenm]

My RE said Freedom is the way to go if you have no fertility coverage (I don't). my month of meds was $2600.

[Murphette]

The real cost depends on your protocol. My meds through my prescription company are at $5,000 but luckily my insurance covers IVF meds so I only have to pay a copay -- so far out of pocket $235.00. It will be a little more than that now because they switched my protocol from Lupron to Ganirelix which is more expensive. I haven't gotten the bill for that co-pay yet.

BTW -- before I was switched to Ganirelix my RE had more order another 14 Day Kit of Lupron. Which is now sitting unopened and unused in my bedroom clinic at home. Anyone know somebody that needs this? I'd sure love to help out someone who doesn't have any med coverage. Also have a brand new unused bottle of 22 Dexamethasone pills that I am now not going to be using because of the protocol change.

[theresa0604]

Since I'm older it took a little extra to get my systems kicking so for me the cost was around $4000 - $5000 total which was out of pocket for us since my insurance doesn't cover any of it.
What I might suggest is that your clinic give you enough to get started and then purchase as needed. The week before ER I went every day for B/W and U/S and I would purchase meds then based on what the nurse expected the doctor would want to do. It was inconvenient but worth it in the long run.
Also ask your RE ... if it is a bigger office they may have meds that were donated back that they can pass along in addition to samples from the drug companies - it never hurts to ask and if they know you're paying out of pocket they will certainly do what they can.
We just changed RE's and are trying our 3rd cycle of IVF ... the nurse knows how much we have already paid out of pocket so when we showed up to sign our consent forms she handed us a bag full of donated meds - it was a true gift

[BayBook]

My insurance covered about 5k then out of pocket, the bad thing was that my insurance only deals with caremark for fertililty meds and they were about 20% more than some of the other pharmacies people are mentoning.

Follistim ~650 for a 900 pen
low Dose HCG ~ 40
cetrotide ~ 400

I would REALLY suggest that you only have your RE order enough to get you through to the day after your first b/w and U/S. Most pharmacy's will do a next day deliver. You do NOT want to be stuck with meds if your cycle is canceled or it things don't work out. My first cycle was canceled I was holding 2 follistims and 2 ovidral. Those are expensive and if this round does not go... wo knows. You can't sell it or send it back once you accept delivery.

[Kari]

I've been to 2 different RE's and they both said Gonal-F is cheapest through Freedom Pharmacy. We went through Portland Professional Pharmacy because I took Follistim, not Gonal F. I was on a very low dose of meds (an average of 50 units of Follistim, 1 vial of Menopur, and 5cc of Lupron during stimulation) so mine only cost $1250. The only drug insurance covered was the antibiotic, which was the cheapest anyway.

[nedege24]

i dont have any insurance coverage, and all of my meds came up to $492 and my dr give me some free from his supply..so that coa be a factor ..if the clinic has free stuff for IVF .

[kitkat7782]

I used 2 vials of Lupron and 2 gonal-F pens..same as Follistism. My insurance covered nothing and I used Freedom pharmacy. I also needed Ovidrel for a trigger shot--but I got my gonal for free through the
Compasionate Care program with Serono, the company that makes Gonal F and ovidrel. They also provide Cetrotide, but I used Lupronl. Fortunately I was able to give the Cetrotide to a friend doing IVF. Check the Freedom Pharmacy website and you may find the link to this program. It covers the meds for one cycle only and you have to fax a few papers and a copy of your insurance card showing lack of coverage. They ask for your last W2 but I dont think the income requirements are very strict. It was fairly easy and a nice surprise.

[charms]

Fertility LifeLines™ - FertilityAssist

For those who use Freedom Pharmacy - something to look into.

FertilityAssist is a program offering all EMD Serono fertility medications free of charge to eligible patients through Freedom Fertility Pharmacy™ for your third OI or IVF cycle.**

Good Luck and I hope this can also assist those who are just beginning the journey.

I do not use them, but many on this forum do.
My insurance covers our meds with a very small copay.