Millions of New Yorkers, and some residents of other states covered by health insurance offered through New York-based employers with 100 or more employees and who are covered on the state’s Large Group Market, will have some significant new benefits available to them on January 1, 2020. New York insurance law changes will benefit individuals and couples struggling with their fertility and cancer patients who want to preserve the ability to start or add to their families in the future.

As anyone who has been through fertility treatments and in vitro fertilization (IVF) can attest, the process can be an expensive one. The changes to New York’s insurance law mean that health insurers will be required to provide insurance coverage for up to three cycles of IVF, including fresh or frozen embryo transfers.

The new provisions in the insurance law are also designed to benefit cancer patients who are struggling with the potential loss of their future fertility because of the treatments they must undergo to attack the disease. While there are procedures available to harvest and preserve eggs or sperm so people fighting cancer can still have the chance of having biological children in the future, such procedures can also be prohibitively expensive. For many people, this meant a double-punch of having to fight for their lives while knowing they would likely never have the chance to have biological children after their cancer treatments.

Thankfully, beginning January 1, cancer patients can focus on beating the disease knowing their insurance companies must cover fertility preservation treatments when cancer surgeries, radiation treatments, or medications lead to infertility. Medically necessary fertility preservation includes freezing eggs or sperm, regardless of the patient’s age, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or marital status.

Here at The Surrogacy Law Center, we are committed to providing compassionate, tailored legal services to individuals and couples who want to start or add to their families. Contact us today to learn more!