Washington, DC – The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that would allow employers to offer limited fertility benefits, including IVF coverage, outside many of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protection requirements by creating a new category of “excepted benefits.” While the proposal could expand access to fertility treatment for some employees and families, advocates warn it comes as the administration simultaneously weakens broader health care protections and attacks access to comprehensive reproductive and sexual health care.
Wayne Turner, Senior Attorney at the National Health Law Program said, “This proposal is a red herring. The Trump administration has quashed state efforts to add fertility treatments and other services to their essential health benefits benchmark plans, including California’s pending proposal which would also improve coverage for hearing aids and durable medical equipment. If this administration were serious about expanding access to health care benefits, including fertility treatments, it should stop undermining the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid programs with $1 trillion in cuts.”
Fabiola De Liban, Senior Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health at the National Health Law Program, added “This is an insufficient way to cover assisted reproduction, which should be comprehensive, free from discrimination, and available to all. People deserve a health care system that truly empowers them to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health throughout their lives. This means that access to fertility care can only happen when other types of reproductive health care are available, including contraception, abortion care, pregnancy care, and gender-affirming care. This administration has done the exact opposite and taken every opportunity to attack and weaken access to sexual and reproductive health. As we explained in our NHeLP Principles on Assisted Reproduction, we must strive to bring an intersection analysis by acknowledging the often-complex ways that people’s multiple identities impact their reproductive and sexual health as well as their decisions and desires about reproduction.”
