Washington Times Column Highlights Efforts To Expand Insurance Coverage Of Infertility Care

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 03 May 2010 - 1:00 PDT

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At a Capitol Hill briefing on Wednesday, advocates from Resolve: The National Infertility Association said that the "complex, emotionally riveting issue" of infertility "needs to come out of the shadows -- and be fully covered by health insurance," Washington Times columnist Cheryl Wetzstein writes.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who attended the briefing, is sponsoring a bill (HR 697) that would require insurers to cover infertility services, according to Wetzstein. Wasserman Schultz said infertility affects one in eight couples, but only 15 states require insurers to cover related health care services. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced a companion bill (S 1258) in the Senate.

Resolve Executive Director Barbara Collura said another goal is to secure $1 million for a "national action plan" on infertility that is under development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Maurizio Macaluso, chief of CDC's Women's Health and Fertility Branch, noted that a CDC white paper on infertility found that too little is known about infertility causes, early detection and treatments, Wetzstein reports.

According to federal data, roughly 7.3 million women ages 15 through 44 have "impaired fecundity," which prevents them from conceiving or sustaining a pregnancy, Wetzstein writes. About two million married women within that group are infertile, meaning they failed to conceive after 12 months of sexual activity without using contraception.

"Leading causes of infertility include sexually transmitted diseases, especially chlamydia and gonorrhea, which result in infections that scar delicate reproductive organs," according to Wetzstein. She adds that "[e]xposure to chemicals is thought to affect sperm adversely" and that "[b]eing obese is associated with poor outcomes in childbearing" (Wetzstein, Washington Times, 4/29).

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