When it came to which RE I was going to see, I wasn’t able to do much in the way of comparison shopping. There is exactly one in the city where I live, and traveling 300 miles to see, or even try to see a different one wasn’t really in the cards for us. That’s a lot of time off of work that we couldn’t afford in addition to the costs of IVF itself.
What have you done? How did you choose a pharmacy? Any recommendations, or words of warning. I'm a fertility drug newbie since we didn't end up doing any IUIs or stimulated cycles of any kind, just jumped right into the big guns.
Posts
Hi Jenni,
ReplyDeleteHow exciting (and a little scary) to be moving on to ivf. The scary part was there for me but it is much better/easier than I thought. No picnic, but not bad. My RE ordered the meds for me, at the time I was in a place without much option. It was a speciality pharmacy because most regular ones don't carry the stuff. Both times I worked with Wal.greens, first time was excellent, second sucked. I was on the phone with them on a daily basis for a week, at length. I was told by a manager that they had just merged with another company hence the confusion, she was kind & apologized a lot for me, I was worked up & crying out of frustration. I had yo order some additional meds bc I stimmed longer than anticipated, I had an insurance lapse (switching coverage) and they offer a 30% unisured discount. A one day supply of Menapour & Bravelle was about $300. Not sure which drug protocol you will be prescribed. Good luck!!! I am excited for you!!!
Sorry for the long-ass answer.
I used the pharmacy recommended by my RE. The nurse said they do check prices and gave us a few other names, but took their word that their recommendation was currently the best price. It was a mail order pharmacy so everything was shipped directly to my house. I did need to be home to receive the packages since some came packed in ice.
ReplyDeleteI totally comparison shopped! My dr. gave me a list of pharmacies, told me to call around, and let them know what drugs I wanted from which places. I did have to call to get prices, but they seemed used to that. Walgreens specialty pharmacy ended up being the cheapest for most things AND they included needles and syringes, which not all of them do. I created a document where I have the prices from the places I called last May/June. I'd be happy to email it to you, if you'd like. My email is emmymay733 at gmail. I'm so excited for you that you are at this point!
ReplyDeleteI can't comment on shopping around for a pharmacy since all meds are provided by my clinic so I haven't a clue IF wise... but generally it's usually a good idea to shop around.
ReplyDeleteCan your RE give you a list of recommended pharmacies? If not just call around and get some prices. You never know it might save you a lot!
Very exciting to be moving forward to IVF. I can't offer suggestions about the meds..all ours were provided through our clinic. It's interesting to hear the differences between the processes in different countries..
ReplyDeleteI also jumped right in to IVF per my RE's advice. We simply chose the pharmacy that the office used and thankfully, most of the cost was covered. And we had door to door service! Good luck with this cycle! Happy ICLW! (#135)
ReplyDeleteI think its definitely worth shopping around for pharmacies if your RE is agreeable to it. For our first IVF our clinic had us use Freedom Fertility Pharmacy, but for our FET at our donor families clinic they suggested Alexander's Twin Pharmacy and their prices were definitely better! They market that they have the lowest prices in terms of other fertility pharmacies and we definitely found that to be the case compared to our first cycle. Wishing you the best of luck as you begin this journey ((hugs))
ReplyDelete