2009 Federal Budget

On Wednesday 16 September the Senate passed the Government’s amended proposal with respect to its previously announced changes to the funding by Medicare of ART cycles. While these changes represent an improvement on the initial proposal and come after consultation with IVF Directors and patient support group ACCESS, the changes now legislated result in an increased patient out of pocket expense for patients seeking IVF and PGD services after 1 January 2010. 

Preliminary modelling suggests that if compared directly with the current out of pocket costs, IVF patients will pay between approximately $1000 and $1500 more out of pocket and PGD patients between $3500 and $4000 more out of pocket depending on whether it is a subsequent cycle or first cycle in a given year.