{"id":25931,"date":"2023-04-25T18:57:34","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T18:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/25\/bills-would-expand-infertility-coverage-for-federal-workers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:07:10","slug":"bills-would-expand-infertility-coverage-for-federal-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2023\/04\/25\/bills-would-expand-infertility-coverage-for-federal-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills would expand infertility coverage for federal workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Republican and Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation in the House and Senate Tuesday that would require the government\u2019s employee health insurance program to cover in vitro fertilization<\/a> and other family planning treatments, which for years have been costly for federal employees facing infertility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of Personnel Management, which administers the Federal Employee Health Benefits program on behalf of 2.1 million civil servants, has been criticized by Congress <\/a>for providing only limited infertility treatments under the FEHB program. For years, artificial reproductive procedures including IVF have been largely out-of-pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Roe v. Wade thrown out by the Supreme Court and Republicans actively working to roll back basic reproductive freedoms, many Americans \u2014 including those who may have trouble getting pregnant \u2014 are understandably worried about their access to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology that they need to start or grow their families,\u201d said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who introduced the Family Building FEHB Fairness Act\u2019s companion bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the House, Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly introduced the legislation<\/a> co-led by fellow Democrats Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last fall, when open enrollment began for FEHB, OPM unveiled four additional plan options<\/a> that provided some form of assisted reproductive technology for a total of 18 FEHB plan options in fiscal 2023. However, federal employees and benefits experts told Federal Times at the time that upon reading the fine print, these treatments were limited to only certain kinds of procedures that wouldn\u2019t be useable for most patients experiencing infertility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, last month, in preparation of the fiscal 2024 benefit year, OPM revealed it will be requiring<\/a> \u2014 not just encouraging \u2014 providers of federal insurance to expand coverage for common infertility procedures and be more clear about what they\u2019re offering to patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\t