Common cancer treatments including chemotherapy, radiation, and some surgical procedures can leave patients struggling to become pregnant. For anyone who wants to start a family, or who wasn’t done having children when their cancer was diagnosed, this unwanted side effect can be heart-wrenching. The very treatments that sent the cancer into remission can also destroy their fertility. And while the treatments they need are readily available, they can be cost-prohibitive without insurance coverage.
Fortunately, people in their fertile years who have received a cancer diagnosis can now consider those fertility treatments without worrying about the financial impact of doing so. Under a new bill recently signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom, insurance companies must cover the cost of fertility preservation treatments for cancer patients, just as they would cover any basic healthcare need.
Before starting cancer treatments, covered patients can now be assured that their health insurer will cover the cost of banking the patient’s sperm, eggs, and embryos to use to try and conceive in the future. The protection offered by the law now treats fertility preservation just like breast reconstruction, wigs, prostheses, and other treatments and items already covered by insurers.
With this new legislation, California joins several other states including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island, which already have active laws requiring fertility preservation coverage. Massachusetts and New Jersey have active legislation, but have not yet adopted laws protecting fertility treatments for cancer patients.
At The Surrogacy Law Center, we are committed to protecting our clients’ rights as they embark on a journey to become parents. To learn more, contact us today!
