On the cover of the Israeli Yedi'ot Ahronot "Mamon" (Money Magazine) on May 6, 2018, the headline "Why it's worthwhile for Israel to invest in fertility treatments for a third child" appeared, with the article (below) based on the research study examining the economic viability of in vitro fertilization treatments.
Lital Wiersch, a GGFBM MBA research student, is evidently the first to research the economic benefits to the Israeli economy of an individual born with the assistance of IVF technology. She found that the taxes and other monies that would be paid through a person's lifetime are higher than the amount spent by the public to create the individual. She decided to evaluate the lifetime public costs for an individual whose birth resulted from IVF as compared to his or her lifetime financial contribution to the economy. She looked into the possibility that the individual's financial contribution would be greater than total public expenditures including the funding of IVF, with the hypothesis that this “may be an effective way to increase the number of people who will participate in the employment market in Israel."
The BGU researcher concluded that the financial contribution of the individual was greater.
Ms Wiersch presented her findings on May 9, 2018 before the Conference of the National Institute for Health Policy Research.
Evaluation of the Economic Viability of a Public Funding Policy for In Vitro Fertilization Treatments in Israel
Lital Wiersch, Prof. Dan Greenberg (Department of Health Systems Management), Prof. Rami Yosef (Department of Business Administration), Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Hypothesis:
1) Public funding of IVF treatments and the public expenditure of the state on that individual will be economically attractive to the society, meaning that the economic contribution of the individual to the state will be greater than the total during his life.
2) The use of in vitro fertilization technology in women who have high chances of conceiving (for example, a third child to a pregnant woman twice in the past) may be an effective way to increase the number of people who will eventually integrate into the Israeli labor market.
Full research abstract here
Jerusalem Post: It makes financial sense to subsidize IVF tech, BGU says
MAMON (Money Magazine) • 06.05.2018
IT PAYS TO GIVE FERTILITY TREATMENTS TO A THIRD CHILD
IVF treatments in Israel are currently included in the health basket, but only up to two children • Research: The income that the state will receive from a person born in IVF is higher than the expenditure during his/her lifetime
By Rotem Elizera
A new study maintains: Israel should give free fertility treatments for a third child. The policy of financing IVF treatment in Israel is one of the most generous in the Western world. Today IVF treatments are included in the “health basket" in Israel and are entitles spouses who have no children in common in their current marriage, as well as childless women who wish to establish single-parent families.
Public funding is given almost without limitation on the number of treatment cycles: up to the age of 45 or until the birth of two children from the same partner.
In Israel, the success rate of fertility treatments is lower than in other Western countries. Apparently, the reason for this is that in Israel, public-funded fertilization treatments are provided until a relatively older age of women. Therefore, as the age increases, the chances of successful treatment decrease.
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Soroka Hospital and Sapir College sought to evaluate the public financial investment in an average person from the moment of birth through the use of in vitro fertilization technology until the person's death, considering the person's economic contribution to the Israeli economy.
The study will be presented by Lital Wiersch this week at a conference of the National Institute for Health Policy Research.
In the calculation, the researchers found that the public expenditure of the State in the health, education and welfare sectors, including in-vitro fertilization cycles, is smaller than the economic contribution of each individual to the economy. The calculations are based on data collected from the professional literature and data from the Israeli authorities on education, health and welfare expenditure.
According to the findings, the highest public expenditure of the state on the individual throughout his/her life is on education - NIS 243,534 for men and NIS 243,551 for women. Health expenditure is NIS 209,881 for men and 242,295 for women. Welfare expenditure - including child allowance, unemployment benefit, disability pension, etc. stands at NIS 127,684 for men and NIS 170,517 for women. In vitro fertilization treatments are estimated at NIS 18,164 per cycle.
On the other hand, the economic contribution of every person born as a result of in-vitro fertilization is higher: until the age of retirement, a man's contribution to the state amounted to NIS 857,713 and a woman's salary was NIS 825,099. In Israel there are 35,000 treatment cycles a year.
Also in other countries:
The study was carried out by Lital Wiersch, MBA student at the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management (GGFBM) at BGU, Prof. Rami Yosef from the GGFBM Department of Business Administration, Prof. Dan Greenberg of the GGFBM Department of Health Systems Management, Prof. Ronen Arbel of Sapir Academic College and Prof. Eitan Lunenfeld Head of the IVF Unit at the Soroka Medical Center and Chairman of Soroka's Obstetrics and Gynecology Division.
According to Prof. Greenberg, "This study could help Israel make informed decisions about whether there is room to reduce public funding of IVF, or alternatively, to expand funding for the birth of a third child. Our research dealt only with the economic aspect and not with ethical or moral questions of encouraging birth. "
Incidentally, similar studies conducted in other developed countries around the world have reached similar conclusions. "The conclusions of the study are relevant to Israel, where birth rates are among the highest in Western countries, but they are even more relevant in countries with a low birthrate," concludes Prof. Dan Greenberg.
