Aggregated News
Photo by Cecilie Johnsen on Unsplash
The Biden administration is considering a requirement that some health plans cover fertility treatment for policyholders regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The administration could use a pending update under the Affordable Care Act to address the definition of infertility often used by insurance plans to determine eligibility for in-vitro fertilization—a definition that is impossible for some LGBTQ individuals to meet.
Changes would apply to Obamacare plans and some group health plans after going through a notice-and-comment process, but could have wider national implications amid an emerging debate about what it means to be infertile.
“This is just one of those spaces where the way that we think about what is necessary medical care is running to catch up with our understanding of intimate relationships,” said Nicole Huberfeld, a professor at the Boston University School of Law and School of Public Health.
Many insurers base coverage on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of infertility—“not being able to get pregnant (conceive) after one year (or longer) of unprotected sex"—when deciding...