Veterans Infertility Treatment Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1957 To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide coverage for infertility treatment and standard fertility preservation services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to provide coverage for infer- tility treatment and standard fertility preservation serv- ices, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Infertility 4 Treatment Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1957.IH H1957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1957 IH SEC. 2. INFERTILITY TREATMENTS FOR VETERANS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 of 2 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 3 end the following new section: 4 ‘‘§ 1720K. Infertility treatment and standard fertility 5 preservation services 6 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT AND SERVICES.—(1) In furnishing 7 medical services under this chapter, the Secretary shall 8 furnish infertility treatments (including through the use 9 of assisted reproductive technology), standard fertility 10 preservation services, or both, to a covered veteran or a 11 partner of a covered veteran, if the veteran and the part- 12 ner of the veteran apply jointly for such treatments or 13 services, or both, through a process prescribed by the Sec- 14 retary. 15 ‘‘(2) In the case of in vitro fertilization treatment fur- 16 nished under paragraph (1), the Secretary may furnish 17 not more than three completed cycles that result in live 18 birth or six attempted cycles of in vitro fertilization, 19 whichever occurs first, to an individual under such para- 20 graph. 21 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may furnish in vitro ferilization 22 treatment under paragraph (1) using donated gametes or 23 embryos. 24 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 25 tion shall be construed to require the Secretary to furnish 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1957.IH H1957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1957 IH maternity care to a covered veteran or partner of a covered 1 veteran, in addition to what is otherwise required by sec- 2 tion 1786 of this title or other provisions of law. 3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘assisted reproductive tech- 5 nology’ includes in vitro fertilization and other fer- 6 tility treatments in which both eggs and sperm are 7 handled when clinically appropriate. 8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered veteran’ means a vet- 9 eran who— 10 ‘‘(A) has infertility; and 11 ‘‘(B) is enrolled in the system of annual 12 patient enrollment established under section 13 1705(a) of this title. 14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘infertility’— 15 ‘‘(A) means a disease or condition charac- 16 terized by— 17 ‘‘(i) the failure to conceive a preg- 18 nancy or to carry a pregnancy to live birth 19 after one year of regular, unprotected sex- 20 ual intercourse; or 21 ‘‘(ii) the inability of a person to repro- 22 duce either as an individual or with the 23 partner of the individual; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1957.IH H1957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1957 IH ‘‘(B) includes instances in which a person 1 is at risk of being described in clauses (i) or (ii) 2 of subparagraph (A), as determined by a li- 3 censed physician based on— 4 ‘‘(i) the medical, sexual, and repro- 5 ductive history, age, physical findings, or 6 diagnostic testing, or a combination there- 7 of, of the person; or 8 ‘‘(ii) any planned medication therapy, 9 surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other 10 medical treatment. 11 ‘‘(4) The term ‘partner’, with respect to a vet- 12 eran, means an individual selected by the veteran 13 who agrees to share with the veteran the parental 14 responsibilities with respect to any child born as a 15 result of the use of any infertility treatment under 16 this section.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 18 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 19 by inserting after the item relating to section 1720J the 20 following new item: 21 ‘‘1720K. Infertility treatment and standard fertility preservation services.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1957.IH H1957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1957 IH SEC. 3. REGULATIONS ON FURNISHING OF INFERTILITY 1 TREATMENT BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 2 AFFAIRS. 3 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 5 Veterans Affairs shall prescribe regulations to carry out 6 section 1720K of title 38, United States Code, as added 7 by section 2. 8 (b) INTERIM POLICIES.—During the period begin- 9 ning 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act 10 and the date on which the regulations are prescribed 11 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that fer- 12 tility counseling and treatment furnished pursuant to sec- 13 tion 234(a)(1) of the Military Construction, Veterans Af- 14 fairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021 (di- 15 vision J of Public Law 116–260) or other provisions of 16 law administered by the Secretary include the following 17 elements: 18 (1) The Secretary may furnish such counseling 19 and treatment to the partner of a veteran covered by 20 such provision without regard to whether the partner 21 and veteran are married. 22 (2) The Secretary may furnish such counseling 23 and treatment using donated gametes or embryos. 24 (c) PARTNER DEFINED.—In this section, the term 25 ‘‘partner’’ has the meaning given that term in section 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1957.IH H1957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1957 IH 1720K of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 1 2. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1957.IH H1957 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS