Bulk-billed fertility eases burden

Fertility Great Southern in Denmark has become the second fertility clinic in the State to provide bulk-billing to patients.

Understood to be one of two fertility clinics in regional WA, it is now hoping to help more people have children by providing an option to have their treatment costs partly covered.

Dr Steven Junk said before bulk-billing, the out-of-pocket expense for fertility treatment was $3500-$4500, depending on the type of treatment.

Dr Junk said with one in six couples needing fertility help, bulk-billing would make it a lot easier for more people to seek help. “In a regional area, people don’t have the sort of money that they do in the city,” he said.

“It isn’t fair on them to not be able to have a child. Basically, we have taken out the gap so they are not having to pay that large amount.

“I think that it is a great thing for the region — patients won’t have to go to Perth and fork out the costs.”

Treatments at the centre range from ovulation induction, intrauterine insemination and IVF procedures.

Patients from as far as Busselton and Esperance travel to the clinic, which opened five years ago.

“Being one of two in the State to bulk-bill, we could get patients from everywhere coming,” Dr Junk said.

“What we do is we program our patients so that we can pinpoint the day they are going to have their treatment. So they could be living in Perth and decide to come down here on a holiday and we just slip in the treatment at the same time.”

Extensive research into the treatment required for each couple is conducted by local fertility experts.