Friday, January 25, 2008

Tax deductible... what?!

The past few days have been indecisive ones; A few days of work, a semi-brutal diagnosis and insurance conundrums.
DH and I have decided that for next few months, I will be referred to as HGP (human guinea pig).
Indeed, dear readers, I have gone against my better judgment and decided to swallow a very bitter pill ( although admittedly this is mostly due to us only having a one bedroom so not being able to pass a homestudy, the new adoptions rules in China/ Colombia/ any foreign country of your choice) named Clomid. Yup- I will be an energizer bunny trying to balance my work, home and infertility life! Luckily though, according to my insurance having children is a lifestyle choice (thereby meaning it is my lifestyle choice to go through mad expensive infertility treatments) so I will become adept at being a work/ home/ infertility cycling life-guru.

Ahhhhh. Insurance. Where does one begin. My husbands company self insures. Mine doesn't insure at all, and doesn't even offer buying into a policy- maybe because we are only three people in the office.
The wonderful ways of self insuring work as follows:
1) Company picks and chooses what it will/ wont pay for
2) Muggins (us the employees) pay 'premiums' from their pre-tax paycheck.
3) Any treatment that we don't need to have (i.e. if we don't get sick) or don't claim from the company using our insurance premium goes straight into the companies pockets! Great system- we pay our company to insure us, and they make money from us.
4) And this is the big one- they escape being governed by state mandated law, thereby effectively killing any infertiles chance's of being covered even if they are working and living in a state such as MA or NJ which is fully mandated with IVF coverage.

The best part of all is that you cannot even buy into a premium. IF is considered a pre-existing condition in NJ and I would not be covered under any new insurance policy I choose to buy for 12 months.

Our only hope is to a) find people who will sponsor a cycle; b) win the lottery; c) use up all our (meager) savings.

I have been asked if sponsoring me would be tax-deductible.

I am not tax deductible. I am not glamorous. I will not be able to pay you back. The best I can say? I am a girl with her man who simply want to get pregnant and have a child. Or maybe children.

1 comment:

Kara said...

From one HGP to another - Hang in there. The chlomid affects people differently and make sure you talk to your RE about all of the side effects.

I love the last part of your blog, so simple and so eloquent. I can really identify with that statement.

Kara