BILL NUMBER: S5635

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to coverage for
iatrogenic fertility preservation services

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To cover fertility preservation services in the case of iatrogenic
infertility

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one: Provides a short title

Section two: Adds a new subsection NN to section 365-A of the Social
Services Law covering fertility preservation treatments in the case of
iatrogenic infertility under Medicaid.

Section three: Establishes the effective date.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill expands Medicaid to cover iatrogenic infertility (infertility
caused by medical treatment). Treatments for a wide variety of diseases
and procedures can cause infertility, a harrowing fact in situations
that are frequently life or death. In these situations, decisions seri-
ous decisions often need to be taken quickly. Chemotherapy, for example,
while effective as a cancer treatment, often removes a patient's future
fertility, unless costly fertility saving procedures are undertaken.
Cost, in these moments of crisis, should never be a consideration.

For the poorest among us in New York, the choice between treating a
disease and starting a family can feel like an either-or decision in the
most crushing way. Medicaid provides no coverage for the massive public-
ly-insured population of New York, and the expansion of coverage in this
bill is vital. These procedures are not elective, they are not luxuries
- they are absolutely essential for any New Yorker to have children,
regardless of what life-saving treatment they have to undergo.

We're not reinventing the wheel either. In 2019, New York already
mandated that private insurance cover fertility preservation treatment.
This is just the logical next step - if those that can afford to have
private insurance are protected, why aren't those on Medicaid? The cost
to the state would be minimal to cover such a small but vulnerable popu-
lation.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.