And Fertility for All?
U.S. Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-New York) has introduced a bill that would require health insurers to pay for advanced fertility treatments the Senator says would help the 1 in 8 American couples affected by infertility to bear children.
Gillibrand’s Family Building Act would require insurers to cover Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) treatments including in vitro fertilization (IVF), gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). The bill would not confine eligibility for ART coverage within a certain age range.
“Thousands of women struggle with infertility each year, with insurance companies denying access to the fertility treatments that make the difference for so many,” Senator Gillibrand said in a press release.
According to Sen. Gillibrand, only 12 percent of infertile individuals nationally receive full coverage for their treatment, and only 25 percent of health care plans cover fertility at all.
Gillibrand’s bill is the Senate version of the Family Building Act already introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-New York).
“The costs of having fertility treatments can be staggering, but children are priceless” said Rep. Weiner in a press release. “Wealth should not determine who can and who cannot fully exhaust the medical treatments available to people who want to have a child.”
Also See: NIH Links Obesity to Male Infertility
Comments
I don’t know about requiring it, but do I think infertility treatment should be a part of most health care plans.
My wife and I have been unable to have children, and had always been told it was due to “unexplained infertility.” We finally saw a doctor who told us there is no such thing — there is always an explanation for infertility. In our case, it wound up (we think) being because my wife had endometriosis. It was quite bad. Had we not been seeing him for this problem, we never would have discovered it, and it is a potentially life threatening disease.
She had surgery recently and we are once again trying — hopefully this time the odds are in our favor.
Our health insurance didn’t cover the initial visits (we were told it’s not “standard”), but it did cover my wife’s treatment and surgery. I also think that if health insurance companies covered infertility, there would be more more advancements in the research for discovering and treating it.
All that said, I don’t think it should be required. Obviously, for a couple who can’t seem to stop having children, they’d be paying for a benefit they don’t need. However, if it were included as a part of, say, a premium package, I’m sure many couples would choose that plan. As it stands, not many insurers even offer it as an option.
This Bill is great but it’t not for all!! I live in Miramar Florida I work for the goverment and my insurance cmpany dose not cover IVF treatment’s and my dreams of becoming a mother is costly. So please when you say this bill is for all!! consider the whole country as one unit. A New Yorker’s insurance with the same company will cover more because they live up north than mines here down south why!! I can’t figure that out yet!!