Understanding Egg Donor Insurance: What is Covered?

Egg donation is a service by which many families have fulfilled their family building dreams. When people cannot use their own eggs, or do not have eggs due to the nature of their relationship, family building is done with the help of egg donor services. Egg donors come into the process voluntarily and with different motivations. As well, egg donors are walked through the process, side-effects and risks of the egg donation process. 

Compensation for egg donors is both fair and generous, as well egg recipients take out an insurance cover for the donor to cushion any unexpected emergencies that could arise in the course of egg donation. We shall now get into egg donor insurance plans and what they cover, as well, what medical bills are incurred and how they are covered. 

What Insurance Plans Cover Egg Donation?

It is not compulsory for egg donors to come into the egg donor process with their own health insurance cover. The main reason for this is that the recipient families are obligated to take out insurance for their egg donors. To start us off, it is important to note that insurance for egg donors is regulated by State laws that regulate infertility treatments. These laws govern the conditions under which treatment of infertility can be pursued, as well as the extent to which infertility treatments and fertility preservation can be insured. 

Cover for the treatment of infertility has to do with treatments using assisted reproductive technology such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Cover for the preservation of fertility has to do with both the donation and freezing of  sperm and eggs, testicular and ovarian tissue preservation, as well as embryo cryopreservation. 

Some people have personal health insurance, others have medical and maternity cover from their places of employment, and this may include cover for fertility treatment. Egg donors are advised to look into their State insurance laws, as well as the details of their insurance cover to ensure that they can afford to undertake the process of egg donation with the risks they may incur.

Health Risks and Coverage Details

Risks

All medical procedures have some risks including egg donation. Egg donation procedures are overseen by medical professionals which helps to minimize these risks and address them should they arise. Some of the risks of egg donation are rare, however, they can happen, and this is the purpose of ensuring that the insurance cover one has is sufficient in the event of an emergency.

Some risks of egg donation include side-effects of medications and hormonal injections; ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) as a reaction to excess hormones in the bloodstream; ovarian torsion where the ovary gets entangled losing its blood supply; or complications such as injury to the bowels, bladder, uterus, or a major blood vessel. 

Coverage  

Infertility treatments and fertility preservation are covered in insurance law in different ways. Let us briefly outline them below: 

Full-Cover Insurance:

Full-cover insurance tends to be taken out by companies, as there is a requirement of the minimum number of people that can be covered. If the number of the group covered does not meet this quota, then insurance cannot be taken out. Even if a group does not meet the quota, insurers are required to share all the options available. 

Self-Insured Cover:

This type of cover is typically accessible to individuals or groups that are smaller than the threshold for a full-cover plan. With this type of insurance however, State law gives the option whether or not to take out a cover that includes infertility treatments and fertility preservation. For an egg donor it is important to verify whether their egg donation treatments are covered under such a cover.

Conditions for Cover:

The conditions for infertility treatments and fertility cryopreservation insurance cover are based on what a particular State defines as infertility. This means that an egg donor may or may not be covered for their egg donation treatments, and the amount they are covered for may also vary. If an egg donor is not fully covered for egg donation, they may have to cover some expenses out of pocket, which could be quite costly if a medical emergency occurs during egg donation.

Handling Medical Bills as a Donor

As a donor, one is not likely to incur any medical bills as these are paid for by the recipient families. As well, insurance to cover the egg donation is provided by the recipient families. Ahead of beginning the egg donation process, a donor would do well to ensure that they understand the medical costs incurred in an egg donation process. In this way, they can ensure that they have sufficient insurance cover, and additional funds available to cover the costs that could arise in the event of a medical emergency.

Conclusion

Egg donation tends to be a smooth process that is carefully managed by fertility experts. While this ensures that side-effects, discomfort and risks are kept to a minimum, professional medical providers cannot always predict how patients respond to the treatments they give. As such egg donors do well to perform their due diligence financially, to ensure that as they enter into this fulfilling family building endeavor, they are cushioned for the risk they take. Contact our team of experts at Utah Fertility Center to learn more about egg donor insurance and the options that are available to  you.

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