Under Dr. Ellen Greenblatt’s direction, and with the support of the provincial government of Ontario, we will soon have access to public coverage of IVF in Ontario, allowing us to direct patients to this low-risk, highly effective treatment for all our patients.

There are many arguments in favour of public funding, from basic human rights to a reduction of long-term medical complications. Studies have shown that denying public funding is often more costly in the long run than simply offering it.

If you’re in a position to influence policy in your province, perhaps through your local MP, social media, or a professional organization, people will need some proof. Consider supporting your argument with reference to the following document from Alberta Health:

http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/AHTDP-Assisted-Reproductive-Technologies-2014.pdf

I believe and hope that if funded IVF is recognized as a good idea for Ontario and Alberta, one day it can be recognized as a good idea for every province and territory in Canada.

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The government also reversed its recent move to cut funding for certain OHIP-covered fertility monitoring services (such as blood tests), which is a big relief for doctors and patients alike. It looks like those cuts are now off the table.

Read the government’s news release
Read the expert panel’s recommendations to the government

This is a big day for fertility care in Ontario — but there’s a lot of information we’re still waiting on.

We’ll keep this page updated with any information that comes in about the OHIP-covered IVF process, as well as answers to any questions you may have.

The post Important announcement: OHIP-covered IVF cycle to launch December 2015 appeared first on Fertility.ca.

(If you aren’t caught up, I recommend reading my post on the latest status of OHIP-covered IVF in Ontario.)

So far, all we know is that the expert advisory panel has recommended excluding women over 42, and severely obese women, from eligibility for this coverage — on the basis that they’re medically less likely to see success from IVF, and that IVF could be more risky for their health.

With the failure of Quebec’s provincially-covered IVF program due to ballooning costs, it’s not surprising that the panel is considering cost-efficiency.

However, this is also controversial news. Some experts believe excluding women like this could be unethical. (And, needless to say, heartbreaking and upsetting for women who find themselves ineligible for this free round of treatment.)

The advisory panel had more recommendations, but they won’t be released until sometime this fall. We’ll keep you updated here.

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However, many questions about the coverage were unanswered — and unfortunately, still haven’t been answered. Now that we’re creeping closer to the end of 2015, patients and clinics alike are getting antsy.

From Quebec’s slow rollout, we already guessed that a January 2015 launch was wishful thinking, but we had hopes for a summer launch. Indeed, a very strong source told us that we’d receive more specific direction about offering OHIP-covered IVF by July 2015.

Unfortunately, summer has come and gone, and we still haven’t received critical guidelines or instructions about delivering OHIP-covered IVF to our patients.

So I’m sorry to say that for the moment, the answer is: we still don’t know. But don’t lose hope entirely: a spokesman for the Ministry of Health recently said we’ll learn more about eligibility requirements this fall, and the OHIP-covered IVF program should begin “before the end of the year.”

We expect to hear more from the Ontario government in the coming weeks, and will keep you updated here.

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