What is shared-risk pricing in IVF?
Shared-risk (refund) IVF programs offer multi-cycle packages with partial or full refund if no live birth is achieved. Common structures:
• Multi-cycle plan: 2–3 cycles for a flat price (15–25% discount vs per-cycle pricing).
• Refund plan: full or partial refund if no live birth after 2–3 cycles. Premium of 10–25% over standard pricing.
Who benefits: patients in mid-success-rate age bands (35–40), where individual cycle success is moderate but cumulative success is high. Provides cost predictability.
Who loses: under-35 patients (very high cycle success — refund unlikely to trigger) and 41+ (very low success even cumulatively — refund triggers, but emotional cost is real).
Reputable programs explain the math honestly. Programs that pressure shared-risk packages without working through the math are sometimes optimizing for revenue.
Jibu hili ni taarifa ya jumla, si ushauri wa kitabibu. Daktari wako anapaswa kuthibitisha kinachohusu hali yako.