Patient Attitudes Regarding ART and Insurance Coverage in the Military Health Care System | Insight Medical Publishing

Objective: Assisted reproductive technology is an established infertility treatment which is not routinely covered by most health insurance programs including the health insurance program for the United States Department of Defense (DOD); TRICARE. The purpose of this study is to examine patient opinions regarding assisted reproductive services and insurance coverage in the military health care system. Methods: An anonymous, randomly distributed cross-sectional survey of patients presenting for care at five different outpatient clinics was completed at Madigan Army Medical Center from February to May 2015. The surveys queried patients on insurance coverage for in-vitro fertilization. In addition, demographic data was obtained for each respondent. Chi-square, Student’s t-test, and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. A P value of 0.05 was considered significant. Results: 598 surveys were distributed with 527 completed and returned (88%). 59% of respondents believe that TRICARE should cover some portion of advanced reproductive treatments, and 69% of respondents would support coverage even if there were an increased personal cost associated with providing this coverage regardless of whether they had a personal need for this service. In addition, more respondents from the infertility clinic (75%) supported TRICARE coverage of advanced reproductive technology to those from other clinics (55%). Respondents under age 40 (72%) supported TRICARE insurance coverage of advanced reproductive technology compared to those (44.7% of respondents) aged 41 or greater. Conclusion: Among DOD beneficiaries surveyed, a majority support insurance benefits for advanced reproductive technologies.