Infertility services should be covered

WE APPLAUD the efforts to expand health insurance coverage to the growing number of uninsured in the Commonwealth. However, on behalf of the more than 151,000 people in the state now struggling with the disease of infertility, we are concerned about a proposal supported by Senate President Travaglini and Governor Romney that would allow insurance companies offering new low-cost policies to exclude coverage of infertility services.

Nearly 20 years ago, Massachusetts showed great leadership by passing the first and most comprehensive family-friendly law in the nation, requiring that infertility coverage be included in health benefit plans. That law has enabled hundreds of thousands of residents of the Commonwealth to successfully resolve their infertility challenges. That visionary law addressed a basic life pursuit and public health need that has not diminished since. If the requirement for infertility coverage is now undermined, a disastrous precedent would be established.

Two-thirds of those uninsured are hard-working individuals who hold jobs that unfortunately do not provide them with health benefits. If they are among the infertile and purchase the newly proposed insurance, their family building interests should not be discriminated against and their legitimate reproductive health needs should not be denied.

We urge the Legislature and governor to oppose any new healthcare access proposals that would come at the expense of family building and the infertility coverage that has protected Massachusetts residents since 1987.

REBECCA H. LUBENS, Executive director, Resolve of the Bay State, Waltham

em>Resolve of the Bay State offers counseling and support to people afflicted with infertility.