10-15% of couples in the United States experience infertility. It could be your neighbor, it could be your friend, it could be a family member, it could be you - and often, it can be impossible to even know that a couple has been dealing with infertility.

For many people, an infertility diagnosis might mean their dreams of having a family and raising children are out of reach. While most people are able to conceive naturally, a couple dealing with infertility may need fertility treatments to just have a chance at having children, and sometimes, this means spending thousands - even hundreds of thousands - of dollars. For example, in the U.S., the out of pocket cost for one round of IVF can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000. These costs often don’t include the required medications that can cost another $5,000 to $15,000 in addition to the cost of a round of IVF. This is also no guarantee of a baby, as the success rate of IVF can vary from a 30% to a 50% chance - depending on the diagnosis. Many couples will undergo 3 or more rounds of IVF before conceiving 1 child. If a couple wants more than 1 child, they will need to repeat the whole process.

These are hefty costs for just a chance at having a child when paying out of pocket. The good news is that insurance can help cover some or all of infertility diagnosis and treatments. But unfortunately, Arizona does not require insurance coverage for infertility, which means that the majority of employers do not have insurance plans that offer fertility coverage, nor are there publicly available insurances that cover it either. Of the providers that do offer fertility benefits, it is more common to find coverage for only a fraction of the costs. This leaves so many couples struggling with infertility without any access to insurance to help cover costs.

Infertility rates are also on the rise. More and more people will be affected by infertility as time goes on. If the state requires at least an option at infertility coverage, more people will be able to receive treatments, meaning more money will be invested in improving care and can bring down costs per treatment. People will also not need as many risky treatments as the need to try to implant multiple embryos at once goes down, and people can make safer choices. People will still need to pay for the insurance  - it won’t be a free benefit, but more people will be interested in raising families in AZ, as opposed to other states that do have fertility benefit requirements.

Please, show our legislature how important this issue is, and let’s make the changes necessary to have access to infertility treatments.