MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -Lauren VanDeHey has always wanted a family, but at 28 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. With cancer treatment posing a significant risk to fertility, she opted to use IVF to collect and freeze her eggs before undergoing chemotherapy.
“It was overwhelming,” VanDeHey said, “especially when you’re young and healthy and not expecting any of this to happen.”
Her insurance did not cover the infertility treatments, and she was left with a bill of $17,000.
On Tuesday, Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers introduced a bill to require insurance companies to cover IVF and fertility treatments.
“Everyone deserves to build a family if they want one,” said state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, one of the bill’s authors.
Meanwhile, the state’s top Republican, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, said Republicans were not consulted on the legislation.
“I’m certainly not going to say it’s a positive or a negative. We just haven’t seen the bill. I support IVF,” Vos said. “If you really want get something signed into law, you would probably talk to the people in the majority.”
According to the National Fertility Association, 22 other states have passed fertility insurance coverage laws.
Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.
Wisconsin Democrats push for IVF insurance coverage
