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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 9, 2023 03:32 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative La'Tasha D. Mayes |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Preserving Fertility for Patients Act |
| The long-term side effects of some intensive treatments for diseases like cancer, sickle-cell disease, lupus and some kidney conditions can do permanent damage to patients’ reproductive systems. This closes doors for sick young people – even children – long before they’ve been able to imagine their plans for creating a family. Fortunately, advancements in fertility healthcare – including sperm, egg, and embryo banking, and other emerging treatments -- will allow many individuals to attempt to protect their future options. But only if they can afford it. Upfront costs to extract and freeze eggs, sperm or embryos can run as high as $15,000, annual storage costs range from $150-$600, and the price tag for an eventual embryo transfer can add as much as another $10,000. Unfortunately, fertility insurance coverage is the exception rather than the rule, and Pennsylvania public plans include no fertility benefits at all. In 2022, Mercer's National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans found that only 26 percent of U.S. employers with 500 employees or more covered in vitro fertilization. Without insurance coverage, fertility preservation is completely out of reach for the many families-- especially if they are facing other medical debts. I intend to introduce legislation that requires commercial and public health plans to cover fertility preservation services and assistive reproductive health technologies needed due to medically induced infertility. If a person requires treatment that may render them infertile, this bill will ensure that they are not burdened with the financial costs of fertility preservation services and can focus on their treatment to get better. |
Introduced as HB1493