Publicly-funded fertility treatment

[arbitron]

Article: Eight private fertility clinics in Ireland to provide HSE-funded services from later this month

The HSE has got the ball rolling on its new fertility service.

Some people spend tens of thousands on treatments but that's the extreme end. IVF and ICSI are the most expensive and they are €4k-€6k per cycle. There can be other medication costs, but these are usually covered by the drugs payment scheme, tax relief can be claimed, etc.

There was a lot of media coverage when this was being considered and several groups made submissions, all highlighting cost as a barrier.

For 2023 they have a €10 million budget. It's a small percentage of overall health spending but still a lot of money and likely to increase significantly as the scheme expands. This is a nuanced and highly sensitive topic so I don't expect there's any media appetite for analysis or criticism.

I haven't seen any costings for the ancillary services that will inevitably be required, e.g. many of these are "older" parents (up to 41 for mother, 60 for father) or people with health issues so there may be increased risk of mother and/or baby requiring extra treatment. A few days in the neonatal ICU is huge money.

The criteria for access are here: Minister for Health announces full funding for assisted human reproduction treatment from September

I'm surprised that only 1 parent has to have no living children!

This is one to watch as fertility issues are increasing, so this budget will multiply quickly.

 

[misemoi]

I would imagine there are far more expensive medically necessary treatments than fertility that could be watched in terms of expanding budgets, like heart disease, diabetes etc. And plenty of babies for whatever reason can spend time in the NICU, not just from older parents and those with health issues.

For those who require it and for those that manage to meet the criteria for some state funding then I wish them well and that the budget does indeed expand to meet the needs and help more families with these medical costs.

 

[ClubMan]

I wonder why they don't simply say "under 41/60 years of age"?

• the intending birth mother should be a maximum age of 40 years plus 364 days at time of referral to Hub, while the maximum referring age for males is 59 years plus 364 days

 

[Purple]

For those who require it and for those that manage to meet the criteria for some state funding then I wish them well and that the budget does indeed expand to meet the needs and help more families with these medical costs.

Given that the State has limited means and that the Health Budget is expanding at an unprecedented rate, what areas of healthcare funding would you cut in order to fund this? Alternatively would you be happy to pay more taxes to fund it?

 

[misemoi]

Given that the State has limited means and that the Health Budget is expanding at an unprecedented rate, what areas of healthcare funding would you cut in order to fund this? Alternatively would you be happy to pay more taxes to fund it?

State always has limited means and of course if we increase the budget we need to increase the tax base by increasing the rates or expanding who pays taxes - which I will duly pay as required. Or have the HSE divert more funds into prevention rather than cure. Healthcare is healthcare. There are far more bigger pots to examine and worry about overspending than on AHR.

 

[Purple]

Healthcare is healthcare.

Healthcare is a bottomless pit with extremely bad value for money. I'm not a big fan of pouring more money into a leaky bucket. I'd rather they get their house in order and stop wasting money. We already spend far more than necessary on public healthcare. We just waste so much of it that we need to keep giving them money.

 

[arbitron]

I would imagine there are far more expensive medically necessary treatments than fertility that could be watched in terms of expanding budgets, like heart disease, diabetes etc. And plenty of babies for whatever reason can spend time in the NICU, not just from older parents and those with health issues.

For those who require it and for those that manage to meet the criteria for some state funding then I wish them well and that the budget does indeed expand to meet the needs and help more families with these medical costs.

I'm sure most people welcome this service and are happy for their taxes to support new families but healthcare is a demand-led sector so every area of spending must be scrutinised.