Quebec announced Thursday that it will reimburse women who have lost their eligibility for the in vitro fertilization (IVF) reimbursement program due to load shedding or a conflict between the government and certain private clinics.
The temporary reimbursement program targets women who were eligible for insured IVF services when they came into effect on November 15, 2021, but who lost their eligibility due to delays caused by load shedding or the conflict with private clinics, which had suspended their services.
At the beginning of the year, the Ovo, Procrea and Fertilys clinics – to which 70% of infertile patients turn to start a family – suspended their activities, dissatisfied with the amount reimbursed by the government for IVF.
This conflict, combined with the load shedding measures taken during the fifth wave of the pandemic, “unfortunately deprived hundreds of women and families of the care and services in assisted procreation that we wanted to make covered”, wrote the minister delegate to Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, in a press release sent to the media. “We now want to make sure that these families are not penalized,” he added.
Excluded due to their age
Thus, women who found themselves excluded from the public IVF program because of their age will be able to obtain reimbursement. Current legislation provides that patients must be “under 41 years old” when starting ovarian stimulation for IVF and that they can “benefit from embryo transfers from this cycle up to the age of 42 years less a day”.
“Both women wishing to obtain reimbursement for services already received since November 15, 2021 and those who would have been eligible and who would like to start an assisted procreation process now will be able to benefit from the temporary reimbursement program until December 31, 2022”, said Minister Carmant’s office.
A reimbursement request form will be available on the website of the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) as of 1er June. Only services rendered by a physician participating in the Quebec health insurance plan will be eligible and reimbursement will be made “according to a maximum amount allocated for each eligible service”, according to the press release.
People who have already received the tax credit for the treatment of infertility may be compensated for their costs, subject to reimbursement of the tax credit.