I may not be that old in the grand scheme of things but I've been around the online military significant other/spouse/family member community for a few years; I've been on various discussion forums, Facebook groups, and Facebook pages. I've seen multiple of each implode, split, and spawn new groups (for various reasons). One thing I know about surrogacy is that when a military spouse announces that she's going to be a Surrogate (whether GS or TS), it often involves a very heated and passionate debate; what about? Insurance, of course.
The insurance that military members and their dependents are covered by is called TriCare. For all it's foibles and occasional frustrations, it's actually pretty darned good insurance. Many people, both inside and outside the military community, object to military spouses using TriCare to cover healthcare for a compensated surrogacy; the idea I've seen among those who object usually seems to be that they see it as "theft", and benefiting financially from tax-payer dollars.
This post is NOT to discuss/debate whether or not it is ethical to use TriCare for surrogacy; I will indiscriminately remove comments on that topic, this is not a debate. My sole purpose in even touching on TriCare and surrogacy is to explain what I will be doing for insurance so as to hopefully stave off any questions and potentially nasty conversations about whether I personally will be using TriCare for a surrogacy. I will insert here that this is only my own personal decision and I do not make any judgment of others who choose differently.
I personally will not be using TriCare for my surrogacy. Without even getting into the ethical questions, it's pretty up in the air as to whether TriCare covers surrogacy or not and, if they do, how much and what they cover. In my reading and conversations with other surrogates, I have come to the conclusion that the answer to that depends on who at TriCare you talk to, what mood they're in, their feelings about surrogacy, how the doctor/hospital/etc. codes the insurance claims, etc. There's just too much uncertainty and I'd rather not end up having to fight insurance and potentially end up with me/the IP's getting stuck with medical bills.
I was very up front with the Agency in my profile about the fact that I'm not comfortable using TriCare for surrogacy; what will happen, since medical bills are the responsibility of the IP's, is that the Agency will assist them in getting private insurance for me (here are several companies/plans that cover surrogacy). I'll have to be on insurance before any procedures are done, so I'm hoping that should be getting started pretty soon.
Anyways, there you have it. No TriCare for this surrogacy. Thanks for reading. I welcome any comments and input about companies and plans that other surrogates have experience with. :)
The insurance that military members and their dependents are covered by is called TriCare. For all it's foibles and occasional frustrations, it's actually pretty darned good insurance. Many people, both inside and outside the military community, object to military spouses using TriCare to cover healthcare for a compensated surrogacy; the idea I've seen among those who object usually seems to be that they see it as "theft", and benefiting financially from tax-payer dollars.
This post is NOT to discuss/debate whether or not it is ethical to use TriCare for surrogacy; I will indiscriminately remove comments on that topic, this is not a debate. My sole purpose in even touching on TriCare and surrogacy is to explain what I will be doing for insurance so as to hopefully stave off any questions and potentially nasty conversations about whether I personally will be using TriCare for a surrogacy. I will insert here that this is only my own personal decision and I do not make any judgment of others who choose differently.
I personally will not be using TriCare for my surrogacy. Without even getting into the ethical questions, it's pretty up in the air as to whether TriCare covers surrogacy or not and, if they do, how much and what they cover. In my reading and conversations with other surrogates, I have come to the conclusion that the answer to that depends on who at TriCare you talk to, what mood they're in, their feelings about surrogacy, how the doctor/hospital/etc. codes the insurance claims, etc. There's just too much uncertainty and I'd rather not end up having to fight insurance and potentially end up with me/the IP's getting stuck with medical bills.
I was very up front with the Agency in my profile about the fact that I'm not comfortable using TriCare for surrogacy; what will happen, since medical bills are the responsibility of the IP's, is that the Agency will assist them in getting private insurance for me (here are several companies/plans that cover surrogacy). I'll have to be on insurance before any procedures are done, so I'm hoping that should be getting started pretty soon.
Anyways, there you have it. No TriCare for this surrogacy. Thanks for reading. I welcome any comments and input about companies and plans that other surrogates have experience with. :)
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