Costs of artificial insemination: What does health insurance pay?
The costs of artificial insemination can quickly become high. And not all expenses are reimbursed by health insurance. Here you can find out everything about the costs of fertilization and we will explain to you which services are covered by the health insurance company.
How much does artificial insemination cost?
The costs of fertility treatment vary greatly depending on the method used. The number of necessary treatment cycles and medication also play a role.
Cost of in vitro fertilization
An in-vitro fertilization costs a total of around 3,000 euros per cycle. This saves around 1,500 euros for medication and 1,500 euros for medical expenses. Since the probability of pregnancy per cycle is only about 30 percent, up to three to four cycles are often necessary. The total costs of an in-vitro fertilization quickly add up to 9,000 euros.
Cost of an insemination
The costs for an insemination amount to approx. 200 euros for an insemination with a spontaneous cycle or approx. 1,000 euros for an insemination with hormonal stimulation. In both cases, however, the prices for medicines are not yet included. Since the chances of success of an insemination are about 10 percent per treatment cycle, up to six treatments are necessary. Many couples who are unsuccessful with insemination then take the option of IVF. Of course, these costs are additional.
There is a fixed amount for the treatment costs themselves. The listed cost differences result from the medication. The prescribed medication differs from case to case and can sometimes be very expensive.
Unwanted childlessness is recognized as a disease
Unwanted childlessness is recognized as an illness and its treatment is therefore largely reimbursed by health insurance companies. However, since January 1st, 2004, health insurance companies no longer fully cover the costs for some services. However, all diagnostic measures to identify the reasons for possible infertility are still fully reimbursable . Hormone treatments will also continue to be fully covered by health insurance.
What services are covered by health insurance companies?
The following treatments are half reimbursed provided that the following conditions are met:
- Eight inseminations without hormone stimulation (this also includes treatments with clomiphene and hCG)
- Three inseminations with previous hormone treatment
- Three attempts at in vitro fertilization or ICSI treatment
After that you have no further right to cash payment. If you would like to freeze surplus egg cells for a later attempt at in-vitro fertilization, you will have to bear the costs of around 500 euros for cryopreservation yourself. The cash registers do not reimburse the costs.
Conditions for taking over the costs
According to the Social Security Code , the following conditions must be met in order to be entitled to a proportionate assumption of costs:
- The couple must be married.
- Woman and man must be over 25 years old. The woman must not have exceeded the age of 40 and the man must not have exceeded the age of 50.
- The treatment must be medically necessary.
- There must be a reasonable prospect that the measures will bring about a pregnancy.
- Only egg and sperm cells of the spouses may be used.
- Before undergoing artificial insemination, the couple must be informed about the treatment by a doctor who is not performing the treatment themselves.
With statutory health insurance, it doesn’t matter whether you already have a child. The costs are borne independently of this. For married couples, the costs of fertility treatment are also tax-deductible.
No assumption of costs
Health insurance does not cover the costs of some reproductive medicine treatments:
- Surgical removal of sperm from the testicles
- Fertilization by donor sperm
- Cryotransfers and freezing of oocytes or sperm
- Other rare treatments and applications (e.g. assisted hatching, polar body diagnostics (PKD), Embry-Glue)
Additional financial help
In addition to the proportional assumption of costs by the health insurance companies, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth also provides financial resources. The level of these state funds may vary from state to state. Here it is worth doing a “funding check” on the information portal Kinder Wunsch . The federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are currently cooperating with the federal initiative. A big advantage: couples who live in long-term non-marital, heterosexual partnerships also have the opportunity to receive a financial subsidy here. However, the requirements of § 27a SGB V must also be met here.
More information on artificial insemination
You can find more information about the methods of artificial insemination, their success rates and risks in our “ Artificial Insemination ” section.