Trump’s surprise fertility coverage proposal: Would insurers pay for it?
He told an interviewer that IVF cash could come either from the government or from insurers.
Former President Donald Trump might call for insurers to pay for in-vitro fertilization procedures.
The Republican presidential nominee talked about that possibility Thursday, during an interview with Dasha Burns on NBC News.
Trump told Burns his team believes that providing coverage for IVF treatments is a way to help more Americans have children.
“We’re going to be paying for that treatment, or we’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay,” Trump said.
Related: Fertility benefits: More affordable than employers think
In an IVF procedure, a medical team causes a sperm cell to fertilize an egg cell outside the body and then implants the embryo in a uterus.
The total cost of an IVF cycle is $23,474, according to FertilityIQ. Trump did not say how many IVF cycles his mandate might cover or whether it might apply to self-insured employer health plans as well as fully insured health insurance arrangements.
His comments came two days after CVS Health’s Aetna unit said it was making coverage for intrauterine insemination procedures, another type of fertility treatment, a standard health plan feature.
In March, 63% of all Americans and 73% of U.S. adults under age 43 told an HR Brew/Harris Poll survey team that they somewhat or strongly agreed employers should offer some form of fertility benefits.