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Financial Matters
Fertility Cost Warranty Program:
Termination and Frequently Asked Questions
Most patients who do not achieve a viable
pregnancy as a result of the first or second attempt will be
recommended to proceed with a repeat attempt. The main reasons
not to do so would include inadequate ovarian response, inadequate
egg quality, inadequate embryo quality, psychological contraindication,
medical contraindications or poor patient compliance.
RMIA retains the right to terminate patient's participation
after each completed cycle. Likewise, the couple has the right
to terminate its participation after each completed cycle without
financial penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What happens if we become pregnant as the result of our
first, second or third attempt and happen to have frozen embryos
as well?
Answer: Under the FCWP, RMIA will store embryos for one (1)
year from the date the patient first cryopreserves. In the rare
cases that either of the two patients (male and female), test
positive for one of the infectious diseases, embryos cannot be
stored at RMIA and therefore the patient would be solely responsible
for storage fees and transfer fees from an outside storage facility.
For a regular IVF cycle, RMIA will bill the patient $40 per month
($480.00 yearly). If, for whatever reason, the pregnancy that
had been established ends in a late miscarriage or neonatal death,
the frozen embryos would then be transferred as part of the Warranty
Program at no cost to the patient, prior to starting a new ovarian
stimulation treatment. Otherwise, if the original pregnancy is
(as expected) successful, the frozen embryo transfer (as well
as the costs associated with long term storage of embryos) will
be the patient's responsibility on a fee for service basis. After
one year of storage with the patient's consent, embryos will
be transferred to ReproTech for long-term storage.
2. What happens if our IVF cycle is "cancelled"?
Answer: Depending on your particular circumstances, there is
about a 5% chance that the ovarian response may be insufficient
to justify surgical egg aspiration. (See above). In some cases,
the cycle will be converted to an intrauterine insemination,
in which case this will be a billable service. This is the only
case where the non-refundable portion of the program fee will
be returned to the couple if they so desire (the non-refundable
portion of the treatment program fee only becomes non-refundable
if surgical egg aspiration has taken place, irrespective of the
amount of eggs that are being obtained). The couple would then
meet with the physician to determine whether or not a repeat
attempt at ovarian stimulation using a different protocol should
be considered.
3. What if we have an egg aspiration but do not have any fertilized
embryos to transfer?
Answer: This is not a common situation but it may occur and,
in most cases, the physician will recommend modifications of
the treatment plan in order to minimize the chances of this happening
again. The couple has, however, the choice to withdraw from the
program. Since the egg aspiration has taken place, they would,
however, only receive the refundable portion of the program fee
only.
4. What if we do not achieve a viable pregnancy, have a few
cryopreserved embryos but decide to terminate our participation
in the program?
Answer: In spite of the fact that this is an unlikely situation,
we have encountered it on a couple of occasions in the last 5
years. In that case, we will convert the Fertility Cost Warranty
Program to a regular fee for service program and the couple will
be reimbursed the unused funds. The cryopreserved embryos can
be disposed of as the couple sees fit.
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