What are the financial realities I am facing?

First, thanks AngnShaun for replying to my FMs all day about Dr. Braverman! The rave reviews seem to be spot on as he called me within a few hours of my email inquiry.

And it sounds like I am doing the right thing taking the next step to see an RE.

Thing is... my out of network coverage stinks. RSofNY and Dr. Hershlag are both in network for me.

I have NO idea where this road will take us (and just finished paying bills from my D&C this summer) so now I am nervous about the financial reality of it all.

While I know everyone loves Dr. Braverman, financially would I be better off staying in-network? NO fertility procedures or services are covered for me regardless - just office visits and diagnostic tests, so I know if it gets there, it will be a lot, so I feel like maybe I need to save money up front.

I appreciate any insight you can offer!

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I would start where you have coverage so you can save sone money. You can have all your test results sent to dr. B when the time comes.
Good luck!

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Message edited 10/7/2011 3:36:12 PM.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I would pick another in network Dr. and pay Dr. B $1,250 to do all of your immune monitoring.

He's great and all but the actual procedures, like an IUI, I feel is an IUI anywhere with any RE.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Thanks... I guess I will start elsewhere to see what happens.

IUIs and IVF won't be covered for me ever, no matter where I go, so if it comes to that I feel like I have to start saving my money now...

I am so overwhelmed by it all!

RSofNY seems to have a good reputation on here. My friend also recommended Dr. Hershlag. Both options are in network for me... any suggestions as to where to turn next?

Message edited 10/7/2011 4:03:15 PM.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I have no idea what I need yet, so I guess I will start in network and see where I wind up.

Any opinions on Hershlag vs RSofNY? I know there have been a lot of RSofNY posts lately so I will go back to those to see which doctors people recommend.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I used RSofNY and was happy with them.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I see Dr.B out of network, and in my opinion the quality of care makes it totally worth it.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

If you have or suspect you have any sort of immune issues, I'd definitely try to price it out before making a decision. I dont know what it means to not have IF coverage but be in network- does that mean they will cover your consults and visits but just not the IUIs/IVF? How about the meds?

If it turns out they wont cover visits, you might as well go with Dr. B because at least you know he will treat your immune issues, which most other docs wont.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I love rsofny, my dd is a success story from there and I am currently expecting dc#2 also with the help of rsofny. I can't say enough about them.

I would definitely start where you have coverage because it gets expensive.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Dr. B is the way to go!!! He is awesome! It is a totally different experience seeing him compared to other doctors.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

If you do go to RSofNY in Mineola, try and see Dr. Trivax. I love him!!!

Good luck with your journey

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I spent years with an office that did not treat my immune issues and I ended up maxing out my insurance benefits. I am now about to start an IVF cycle with Dr. Braverman and I'm going to have to pay everything out of pocket. He's the first dr. to address my immune issues and seems confident I'll have a baby with the immune treatments. I lost twins at 13 weeks 2 years ago and they tested genetically normal, so that means the loss was likely immune related. If I was being treated properly, I may have those babies today. So if you have any immune issues, I say go to your in-network RE for your procedures, etc., but DEFINITELY pay Dr. B for immune treatment. I wish I did that while I had the chance.

As for RSofNY in Mineola, I actually started out with them for my initial testing almost 4 years ago and did not like them at all, so I switched immediately. I have another friend who used them for IUI and she wasn't crazy about them either, but she ended up with a baby girl. Another friend of mine used Dr. Hershlag at North Shore and really liked him, but she ended up having to switch drs. I'm sure u know he's Natalie Portman's father - I think that's so funny. Good luck to you, whatever you decide

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Thank you all so much for your replies.

I think my first step will have to be getting some tests done to see what I can find out - in network somewhere.

But if I wind up dealing with immune issues I will definitely make an appointment with Braverman.

It's so hard right now not getting any definite answers about what is going on... in case this is a long road though, I think I might need to start in network and then get as much info as I can while it is still covered by insurance.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

Also keep in mind that I *dont* think other docs do immune testing. They wil do all the normal tests and may or may not find something and treat it. But there could be underlying issues as wwell- that was my case, at least. I went in to treat pcos and we discovered underlying immume issues that we r currently treating now too. Hth

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I would just like to say I didn't suspect I had ANY immune issues or anything else really wrong with me, Dr. B found I have Hashimoto's disease (underactive thyroid), thyroid antibodies, slight NK, MTHFR (A copy of A and C)...

Becuase of this I need to be on synthroid, a baby asprin and metnax for LIFE.

There was nothing going on that would make me suspect any of this.

I only went to him because after 9 cycles of TTC and a clear SA and HSG test I didny feel like wasting anymore time. He was the closest RE to my house which is why I picked him lol.

I am a big fan of getting all the possible tests done, just in case.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I already know I have Hashimoto's and am on synthroid - I found out after my first six months of TTC.

I was otherwise asymptomatic - it only affected my cycles and it seems previously it had been masked by birth control pills.

Wherever I go next, I will be asking for a variety of tests. I was blindsided the first time around, then blindsided by my miscarriage. I don't want to go through either ever again.

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

All 3 of my DC's I thank RSOFNY of Stony Brook for

Re: What are the financial realities I am facing?

I loved being at rsny!!! also there are no co-pays till you are pregnant.
I now have

Message edited 10/9/2011 9:38:03 AM.