Dr. Kaylen Silverberg has been asked to be the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the newly established Americans for IVF organization.
Americans for IVF is a national body that has been developed to educate and work with the United States Congress to ensure both legal protections for IVF as well as expanded access to IVF and fertility treatment. Working with both sides of the aisle, Americans for IVF has played an instrumental role in helping to draft bipartisan legislation that has now been introduced in the House of Representatives for consideration. Called the “Helping to Optimize Patients’ Experience (HOPE) with Fertility Services Act”, this new bill aims to improve access to infertility treatment, including IVF. One of the bill’s specific proposals is to require private health insurance plans to cover fertility treatment.
The bill’s co-sponsors include Representatives Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Oregon), Susan Wild (Pennsylvania), Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (Florida), and Zach Nunn (Iowa). It is anticipated that a companion bill will soon be introduced in the Senate.
In addition to working on this legislation, Americans for IVF also worked closely with the 115 members of the committee that wrote the party platform for the Republican National Committee. The platform is a discussion of principles that each political party intends to follow in both the Executive and Legislative branches of Congress for at least the next four years. As part of their effort, Americans for IVF asked Dr. Silverberg to write a position paper as well as make a video outlining IVF and the need for expanded access to fertility treatment. The paper and video were sent to each of the committee members for their consideration prior to the vote.
As a result of this work, pro-IVF language was incorporated into the platform, which was ratified last week by an overwhelming majority vote of the committee members. This language, along with the other platform provisions, will be introduced at the Republican national convention for a final vote. While endorsement by the committee essentially ensures approval by the convention delegates, once the platform is approved, support for IVF will be codified as a priority for the Republican party.
Inclusion of their issues in a party platform is major goal of every special interest group in the United States, Getting pro-IVF language inserted into the Republican platform was a major goal of Americans for IVF as well, but the organization was advised by lobbyists that this would be a long shot, as this year’s platform was shortened from approximately 60 pages to only 17. The fact that pro-IVF language was incorporated is a major win for fertility patients across the country. Despite this victory, Americans for IVF intends to continue to push forward their agenda, both at the state and national level.
We encourage each of you to express your support for this legislation by contacting your congressional representatives and asking them to support the HOPE for fertility services act.
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