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Written By: Women & Infants Fertility Center on September 23, 2019
At Women & Infants Fertility Center, we believe that it is critically important to advocate for our patients, and for their access to family building services. Patient advocacy at a state and national level allows us to fight for change that will help those needing infertility services.
In May 2019, Dr. May-Tal Sauerbrun-Cutler went to Washington, D.C., as part of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and RESOLVE’s Advocacy Day. She was joined by more than 200 other advocates – both professionals and patients! All of these men and women went to Capitol Hill to meet with legislators, explain the importance of specific bills, and to ask for their support of legislation that would help Americans build their families.
Dr. Sauerbrun-Cutler helped advocate for the following legislation.
This would require all health plans offered on the group and individual markets (including the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, TRICARE, the VA and Medicaid) to provide coverage for the treatment of infertility and for fertility preservation prior to a medically necessary procedure that may cause infertility, such as chemotherapy.
This would ban discrimination against foster and adoptive parents, families of origin, and foster youth based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status and religion. It would also increase the number of foster and adoptive homes
This would permanently allow veterans with infertility caused by a service-related injury to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) medical treatments, to cryopreserve gametes pre-deployment and provide adoption assistance.
Dr. Sauerbrun-Cutler spoke with Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline about patient advocacy.
The doctors at the Fertility Center worked alongside a team from the legal and communications departments at Women & Infants Hospital, and together were able to introduce and get passed a bill in the Rhode Island legislature. The bill revised infertility law by providing a new, separate definition that requires coverage for fertility preservation services when a medically necessary treatment may directly or indirectly cause infertility.
Governor Gina Raimondo signed the bill into law in July 2017. Rhode Island and Connecticut were the first states in the country to pass legislation that requires insurers to provide some coverage for fertility preservation services.
Would YOU like to get involved? The BIGGEST impact is made NOT by the doctors and other professionals who advocate, but by patients who come and share their stories. Legislators want to hear from YOU, their constituents, about how bills like these would affect you and your life. There are lots of ways to get involved locally, and in addition, please consider joining us in Washington next year!
To learn more and become an advocate:
