Getting pregnant can be more expensive than a new car. Don’t believe us? Ask someone who’s done in vitro fertilization (IVF).

According to fertility education site FertilityIQ, a single IVF cycle is $23,000+ depending on location and whether services like medication and pre-implantation genetic screening are included. Patients complete an average of 2.3 to 2.7 cycles, which can total up to $50,000.

And it’s a growing industry: The US fertility industry is set to increase from $5.3 billion in 2023 to $8.7 billion by 2033, according to market research and consulting firm Precedence Research.

Some clinics and startups help patients finance these expensive fertility treatments, and offer programs that provide refunds if IVF is unsuccessful.

San Francisco-based startup Future Family offers both. The company introduced an insurance program in February with a “baby or your money back” guarantee. If a patient using the company’s IVF insurance doesn’t have a live birth after two cycles, they can file a claim and get a refund up to their coverage limit. Depending on the policy, that can be $15,000, $30,000, or $50,000.

Learn more about what Future Family is doing here.—CC

Though UK-based pharmaceutical company Compass Pathways reached its primary endpoint from its June 23 Phase 3 trial to use synthetic psilocybin for treatment-resistent depression (TRD), investors were seemingly underwhelmed. That same day, shares plunged 46% to a record low of $2.35 a share for the biotech firm.

But Kabir Nath, CEO of Compass, defends the results of the trial, telling Healthcare Brew the team isn’t focused on share prices. The results are significant, he said, and ample bipartisan support in the Trump administration means this changes nothing about the quest for more research into psilocybin to treat certain mental health disorders.

The psychedelic healthcare market has been ramping up since June 2023 when the FDA issued new guidelines for biopharmaceutical firms interested in pursuing research on psychedelic drugs to treat psychiatric and substance use disorders. The three main drug compounds of interest were psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.

Trial deets. Trial participants were patients with TRD—a diagnosis given after first-line treatments such as antidepressants fail two or more times to manage symptoms—and were living with multiple episodes of chronic depression for an average of three years.

Could psilocybin treatment finally be on the horizon?—KF

Though Medicaid cuts in the Trump administration’s budget bill shocked hospitals, providers may start singing its praises after learning they’re due for a pay bump next year.

On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shared its proposed 2026 physician fee schedule, which determines Medicare payments based on the amount of resources in provider services like office visits, hospice, diagnostic testing, ambulance care, and more.

The budget bill calls for a 2.5% raise, and this also accounts for a 0.55% adjustment in proposed changes to certain services, according to a CMS fact sheet. Last year, Medicare paid $32.35 per relative value unit for qualifying physician services; next year’s rate is set at $33.59. For nonqualifying services, it’ll grow from $32.35 to $33.42.

Put simply? Physicians will get a more than 3.6% increase to this year’s salaries.

See all the deets here.—NO

CRISPR is revolutionizing medicine—from curing genetic diseases to reshaping research—but groundbreaking treatments come with high costs, complex logistics, and tough ethical questions. Explore the cutting-edge science behind gene editing and the challenges that lie ahead.