Quebec Medicare to cover in-vitro costs starting in August

MONTREAL – Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc announced Tuesday that fertility treatments for couples will be covered by Medicare as of Aug. 5, making Quebec the first jurisdiction in North America to provide free in-vitro fertilization treatments.

The annual number of in-vitro fertilizations covered by the program is expected to double to approximately 7,000 by 2014 from about 3,500 this year. It is estimated that the program will cost the government $25 million the first year, and up to $80 million by 2014.

But Bolduc said there would be significant savings due to the way fertility treatments will be managed; with the new system, there won’t be as many embryos implanted at once which is expected to reduce the number of multiple births. In fact, the proportion of multiple births is expected to drop to less than 10 per cent from about 30 per cent.

"We’re the first but you’ll see other provinces will be thinking about it," Bolduc said at a news conference at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

"In the end, we’ll be responding to the needs of patients."

Caroline Amireault, a spokesperson for the Association des Couples Infertiles du Quebec, presented Bolduc with a stack of papers to illustrate how many Quebecers said they want the government to cover the medical costs associated with infertility. There were 25,000 signatures on the petition, she said.

"This is a big day for our association," said Amireault. "The recognition of infertility as a sickness is a very big victory for our association."