What is the status of insurance coverage for fertility services in the United States by large insurers? A patchwork system in need of repair.

Frameshift now to the issue of fertility benefits and the finances and out-of-pocket expenditures attendant to this care (a conversation all too familiar to those in the ART/IVF space) and the coverage patchwork is even more bewildering for patient and provider alike. What is the status of insurance coverage for fertility services in the United States by large insurers? Benefits are variable and inconsistent, the result of several factors intrinsic to the system of purchasing healthcare plans but also driven by an against-the-tide struggle to have infertility understood as a disease by insurers. These questions include: how dated and static are fertility benefits and requirements to access these benefits by major insurers; how far are we from adequate, universal, and effective fertility and family building benefits; and finally, are there more effective models that could better inform and guide coverage?. [Extracted from the article]