Show Me the Money!: Part Deux - IVF Meds Cost

Hello Again!

The below information shows pricing for IVF medications from 4 different pharmacies. If you would like to know the names of them, please message me and I would be happy to go over them with you.

No one will use all of the medicine below.  For the antagonist IVF protocol it will break down like this:

Bravelle OR Gonal-F  OR Follistim
Menopur
Ganerelix OR Cetrotide
HCG Trigger Shot

Will also need to be on Birth Control Pills (BCP) for about 14 days, an antibiotic, and a few other oral medications that will be taken at various times during the cycle. In addition to that, will be taking progesterone.  I’m hoping the oral medication prescriptions are covered. I know the BCP’s will be covered at 100% thanks to Health Care Reform.

 This post will mainly focus on the injectables since I’m out of pocket for all of the those costs.

Drug Name	Pharmacy A	Pharmacy B	Pharmacy C	Pharmacy D
Bravelle (40 vials)	$2,272.02	$2,156.00	price not provided	$2,249.99
Gonal-F (3) 900 IU pen	$4,860.00	$2,664.00	$2,664.00	$4,815.57
Follistim (3) 900 IU pen	price not provided	price not provided	price not provided	$2,343.00
Menopur (10 vials)	$758.00	$739.00	$759.00	$739.50
Cetrotide (5 vials)	$472.50	$472.50	$472.50	$559.65
Ganirelix (5 vials)	price not provided	$724.50	price not provided	$580.50
Trigger Shot (name varies)	$84.75	109.90	$89.90	$91.95
Needles  (30)	$11.39	included	$15.00	included
Syringes (30)	$15.33	included	$15.00	included
Shipping	free	free	free	free

 

After price shopping and applying discounts (captured below) I will take the follow medications:

Gonal-F redi-ject pen 3 pens each containing 900 IU’s (international units)
Menopur- 10 vials each containing 75 IU’s
Cetrotide- .25mg (5 of these)
HCG Trigger shot – 1 shot (10,000U)

Discounts:

Heart+ card: Can be obtained from your physician’s office. There is a $10 enrollment charge which is handled at the pharmacy level. Discounts apply to Bravelle, Menopur, Endometrin, and Novarel.

Go-Direct Savings: Mail-In Rebate for $10 off every 75 IU’s of Gonal-F and $10 off every .25 mg of Cetrotide. Obtainable if you go to HERE.

Will also have to take progesterone.  It can be administered via injection or vaginally. Both methods have their drawbacks and advantages. My clinic recommends the latter.

I also asked my RE about any sample medications they have available that patients have returned to the clinic. They are going to give me about $200 worth of Crinone 8%.  Should get me through until I find out I’m pregnant (fingers crossed!). Then my insurance may cover it after that.

So here is my cost break-down:

Drug Name	Pharmacy B	Pharmacy B with Discounts Applied)
Gonal-F (3) 900 IU pen	$2,664.00	$2,304.00
Menopur (10 vials)	$739.00	$739.00
Cetrotide (5 vials)	$472.50	$422.50
Trigger Shot (name varies)	$109.90	$88.90
Needles  (30)	included	included
Syringes (30)	included	included
Shipping	free	free
Additional Savings		($100) on orders over $2,000
Total before Savings	$3,985.40
Total with Savings		$3454.40

 

 Here is the final cost between all 4 pharmacies:

Pharmacy A	Pharmacy B	Pharmacy C	Pharmacy D
$3,613.99	$3454.40	$3,605.40	$3,434.10

 

Pharmacy D was less expensive by about $20.00 and I would have to use Follistim, and spend $25 on a savings card that would be in the form of a gift certificate.  I liked the responsiveness of Pharmacy B over Pharmacy D too. Also, the amount cost is for 10 days’ worth of medications.  I only got a 10 day supply of medicine so if I need to add 2 more days worth, I want to work with a company that has great customer service.

So that’s it! Please let me know if you have any questions, and good luck! J