Ontario’s new IVF program ‘takes into account’ issues Quebec faced

The cost of helping an older woman try to have a baby skyrockets from just under $45,000 for a 40-year-old to almost $600,000 for a 44-year-old, according to a new Quebec study.

But Ontario will be funding the treatment by the end of this year, confident that its program has taken into account Quebec’s experience.

David Jensen, a spokesman for Ontario health ministry, says the fertility program that will go into effect by the end of this year takes into account the province’s fiscal reality and international best practices.

“Ontario’s program design has already taken into account many of the issues faced by Quebec’s program,” Jensen tells Yahoo Canada News.

Where Quebec did not have any age restrictions, Ontario will fund treatment for women up to 43, he points out. Quebec also has been funding three IVF cycles per patient, while only one cycle per patient is eligible in Ontario.

And the neighbouring province also did not limit the number of egg retrievals, whereas Ontario will only fund one egg retrieval per patient.

“In addition, Quebec had no set budget for the program, whereas Ontario has capped its annual program budget at $70 million,” Jensen says.

Ontario will also be monitoring the program and “will make evidence-based adjustments to the program design as necessary.”

Despite the cost of IVF for women aged 44, Quebec’s publicly-funded IVF program recorded no live births for the women aged 44, says the study released at the annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

The researchers looked at IVF cycles funded in Quebec between August 2010 and December 2012.

They found success rates were low and the costs high for women 40 and over, ranging from $43,153 for 40-year-olds to around $100,000 for 43-year-olds. By the time women reached 44, the cost was $597,800.

Society president Rebecca Sokol says another study found that Quebec’s public funding of advanced reproductive technology has been extremely successful in reducing the number of births among IVF patients — an important public health goal.

“The province’s experience also points out how difficult it can be to balance costs with the likelihood of success, while making treatment available to all,” she says.

Neither the Infertility Network nor the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada, which both advocate for public funding for treatments, responded to requests for comment on the study.

Only four Canadian provinces offer some form of funding or tax rebate for IVF.

In 2010, Quebec became the first province to fully fund in-vitro fertilization but has tabled legislation to end the public funding for assisted procreation, with the exception of artificial insemination. The legislation also puts an age limit of 42 on funding.

In Ontario, the provincial government made good earlier this month on a campaign promise to fund IVF. The program will be available by the end of the year for women up to age 43 and will be limited to 4,000 cases per year.

Manitoba offers a fertility treatment tax credit for up to 40 per cent of the cost or various reproductive treatments, including donor or intrauterine insemination, embryo transfer, sperm injection and testicular sperm extraction, as well as IVF.

Julie Kentner, spokeswoman for the province’s health and finance departments, says the Quebec funding model is vastly different from Manitoba’s.

“Quebec directly funds the service,” Kentner tells Yahoo Canada News. “It’s a tax credit… [and] we have a limit on it.”

Manitoba has no age limit and does not limit the number of treatments eligible for the credit but caps it at a maximum of $20,000 in eligible costs, for an $8,000 maximum annual credit.

As of last year, New Brunswick also offers a tax credit for infertility treatment costs. It is a one-time grant that allows individuals to claim 50 per cent of eligible costs for IVF or intrauterine insemination, as well as related drugs, up to a maximum of $5,000.