New analysis finds major care gaps before patients begin IVF
Caroline MolloyA new analysis of insurance claims from approximately five million commercially insured patients found that many people who ultimately underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) appeared to begin the procedure without documented completion of recommended testing or treatment for potentially correctable causes of infertility.
The research, released July 13 by the International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine, compared real-world care with infertility recommendations published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American Urological Association. The authors found that IVF use rose rapidly after an infertility diagnosis while documented diagnostic and therapeutic care often lagged far behind.
CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky told Zeale News that the findings support concerns the organization has raised repeatedly with lawmakers and federal officials.
“I always love it when science catches up to Catholic teaching,” McClusky said. “For years, in briefings, meetings and letters, this is what CatholicVote has been pointing out.”
Researchers Tracey Parnell, Monica Minjeur, Craig Turczynski, and Tony Pistilli examined MarketScan commercial insurance claims from January 2021 through December 2024. They identified patients with infertility-related diagnoses who later underwent IVF, then searched their claims for evidence of evaluations, medications, or surgical interventions recommended by professional fertility-care guidelines.
By three months after an infertility diagnosis, between 28% and 39% of patients in the relevant cohorts had already begun IVF. By nine months, IVF utilization commonly exceeded 70% to 85%, while documented adherence to many guideline-supported evaluations and treatments remained below 40%. Several recommended interventions appeared in fewer than 15% of claims.
The calculated gaps between recommended care and documented practice ranged from approximately 13% to 78% for most of the measures studied. In several categories, the difference exceeded 50 percentage points.
