Staten Island Reporter

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis has joined forces with Representatives Lori Chavez-Deremer (OR-05), Zach Nunn (IA-03), Susan Wild (PA-07), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) to co-sponsor the Helping to Optimize Patients' Experience (HOPE) with Fertility Services Act. This bipartisan legislation seeks to mandate private insurance coverage for infertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), thereby ensuring that infertility care is treated comparably to other medical conditions.

The bill proposes amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to cover three specific types of infertility:

1. Infertility due to a diagnosed disease or physical ailment preventing full-term live birth.

2. Unexplained infertility, defined as the inability of a couple to conceive after at least 12 consecutive months of trying.

3. Iatrogenic infertility, which involves infertility or anticipated infertility resulting from treatment for another condition, such as cancer, where procedures like chemotherapy can destroy eggs.

"So many loving couples want to start a family but struggle with infertility. With soaring out-of-pocket costs for in vitro treatment and other fertility care, Americans are oftentimes prevented from being able to have children," said Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis. "Even for Americans with health insurance plans that provide some coverage, this critical treatment can be cost-prohibitive. This legislation would expand coverage and provide access to fertility treatments for millions of Americans who dream of expanding their family but have faced difficulties due to disease, ailment or unexplained infertility."

Dr. Jacqueline Guterman of Americans for IVF expressed support for the bill: "By cosponsoring the HOPE with Fertility Services Act, Congresswoman Malliotakis has shown in action, not just talk, that she truly cares about the working people of Staten Island." She added, "We live paycheck to paycheck and many can't afford IVF if we struggle with the disease of infertility. As an OB/GYN, it breaks my heart when people with infertility are denied treatment. And as a mom of IVF miracle babies, I know there is nothing more pro-life than bringing children into the world who would otherwise not exist."

Malliotakis is also a co-sponsor of H.Res.1037 which asserts that in vitro fertilization (IVF) is necessary for women who cannot conceive naturally.