Provides coverage for iatrogenic fertility preservation services under certain conditions

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why the sponsor says this is needed

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.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.