It’s crazy how something as simple as open enrollment can throw you for a loop when dealing with infertility.  After a few months of not having to deal with it, it all came down like a ton of bricks.  With my second HSG scheduled, and open enrollment falling just around the same time I began to feel everything I had been suppressing since our failed IUI.

I received an e-mail with my Company’s open enrollment guide, no big deal I thought to myself but as I started to read through it I realized that some major decisions would have to be made.  As the premium increased for Kaiser, and the premium decreased for Blue Shield I knew I needed to do some research and comparison.

I started by looking through the coverage information for Blue Shield and to my surprise infertility was covered at 50% (the same as Kaiser).

Next I called Blue Shield and asked them what Reproductive Endocrinologists in my area took the insurance I was being offered.  They were nice enough to send over a list, however after calling my top choice to find out approximate costs of different procedures I was told they actually don’t take Blue Shield.  Needless to say, I became quite frustrated and it all came back to me as to why I didn’t chose Blue Shield insurance in the first place, they never know what is going on and always give you the run around.  I called Blue Shield back again and had them do the leg work this time and through this I found out that Pacific Reproductive Center in Torrance was covered by my insurance.

I then called Pacific Reproductive Center to find out the approximate cost of an IUI and the figure I was given was slightly more than the cost of what I pay at Kaiser.  I was not 100% comfortable with the answer I was given so I reached out via Yelp and got a more definite response.  Taking into account the difference in premiums, time off work, and distance traveled to Kaiser, Blue Shield would not be much more expensive.

With this information I discussed with Jon our options and we talked through the pros and cons.  I can always count on him to be the voice of reason, and the calm in every storm.

Initially we decided to switch over to Blue Shield, while it sounded like a scary leap we felt it was one with potentially great benefits.  We love Kaiser, we really do, but Kaiser is seems to be very “cookie cutter,” we were under the impression that everyone and everything follows the same protocol and well, that protocol doesn’t necessarily work for everyone.  We thought that a fresh set of eyes on the situation, and one without limits might provide a better outcome.  As Jon pointed out, if all else fails, we could go back to Kaiser next year.

This all changed after receiving the results of our second HSG test.  We got great results and learned that we were incorrect in our assumption about Kaiser’s approach to infertility treatments.  Because of all of this new information, we decided that it was best to stick with Kaiser as they know our situation, have all of our information on file and we know what to expect financially.

Until next time, thank you for following along on our journey!