Veterans Infertility Treatment Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8034 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 AUGUST 14, 2020 Ms. BROWNLEY of California 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 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8034 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 ‘‘§ 1720J. 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 spouse, partner, or gestational surrogate of a covered vet- 12 eran, if the veteran and the spouse, partner, or gestational 13 surrogate of the veteran, as applicable, apply jointly for 14 such treatments or services, or both, through a process 15 prescribed by the Secretary. 16 ‘‘(2) In the case of in vitro fertilization treatment fur- 17 nished under paragraph (1), the Secretary may furnish 18 not more than three completed cycles that result in live 19 birth or six attempted cycles of in vitro fertilization, 20 whichever occurs first, to an individual under such para- 21 graph. 22 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 23 tion shall be construed to require the Secretary— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8034 IH ‘‘(1) to find or certify a gestational surrogate 1 for a covered veteran or to connect a gestational sur- 2 rogate with a covered veteran; or 3 ‘‘(2) to furnish maternity care to a covered vet- 4 eran or spouse, partner, or gestational surrogate of 5 a covered veteran, in addition to what is otherwise 6 required by section 1786 of this title or other provi- 7 sions of law. 8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘assisted reproductive tech- 10 nology’ includes in vitro fertilization and other fer- 11 tility treatments in which both eggs and sperm are 12 handled when clinically appropriate. 13 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered veteran’ means a vet- 14 eran who— 15 ‘‘(A) has infertility; and 16 ‘‘(B) is enrolled in the system of annual 17 patient enrollment established under section 18 1705(a) of this title. 19 ‘‘(3) The term ‘infertility’— 20 ‘‘(A) means a disease or condition charac- 21 terized by— 22 ‘‘(i) the failure to conceive a preg- 23 nancy or to carry a pregnancy to live birth 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8034 IH after one year of regular, unprotected sex- 1 ual intercourse; or 2 ‘‘(ii) the inability of a person to repro- 3 duce either as an individual or with the 4 partner of the individual; and 5 ‘‘(B) includes instances in which a person 6 is at risk of being described in clauses (i) or (ii) 7 of subparagraph (A), as determined by a li- 8 censed physician based on— 9 ‘‘(i) the medical, sexual, and repro- 10 ductive history, age, physical findings, or 11 diagnostic testing, or a combination there- 12 of, of the person; or 13 ‘‘(ii) any planned medication therapy, 14 surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other 15 medical treatment. 16 ‘‘(4) The term ‘partner’, with respect to a vet- 17 eran, means an individual selected by the veteran 18 who agrees to share with the veteran the parental 19 responsibilities with respect to any child born as a 20 result of the use of any infertility treatment under 21 this section.’’. 22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 23 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8034 IH by inserting after the item relating to section 1720I the 1 following new item: 2 ‘‘1720J. Infertility treatment and standard fertility preservation services.’’. SEC. 3. ADOPTION ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERELY WOUNDED 3 VETERANS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VIII of chapter 17 of 5 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 6 end the following new section: 7 ‘‘§ 1789. Adoption assistance 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may pay an 9 amount, not to exceed the limitation amount, to assist a 10 covered veteran in the adoption of one or more children. 11 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION AMOUNT.—For purposes of this 12 section, the limitation amount is the amount equal to the 13 cost the Department would incur by paying the expenses 14 of three adoptions by covered veterans, as determined by 15 the Secretary. 16 ‘‘(c) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, 17 the term ‘covered veteran’ has the meaning given that 18 term in section 1720J of this title.’’. 19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 20 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 21 by inserting after the item relating to section 1788 the 22 following new item: 23 ‘‘1789. Adoption assistance.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8034 IH SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON INFERTILITY TREATMENT 1 FURNISHED BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 2 AFFAIRS. 3 (a) REPORT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 4 shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 5 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 6 House of Representatives reports on the infertility treat- 7 ment furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs 8 during the year preceding the submission of the report. 9 The Secretary shall submit such reports as follows: 10 (1) An initial report by not later than one year 11 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 12 (2) A second report by not later than November 13 11, 2022. 14 (3) Annual reports beginning in 2023. 15 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under sub- 16 section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re- 17 port, the following: 18 (1) The number of veterans who received infer- 19 tility treatment furnished by the Department of Vet- 20 erans Affairs, disaggregated by era of military serv- 21 ice of such veterans. 22 (2) The number of spouses, partners, and ges- 23 tational surrogates of veterans who received infer- 24 tility treatment furnished by the Department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8034 IH (3) The cost to the Department of furnishing 1 infertility treatment, disaggregated by cost of serv- 2 ices and administration. 3 (4) The average cost to the Department per re- 4 cipient of infertility treatment. 5 (5) In cases in which the Department furnished 6 infertility treatment through the use of assisted re- 7 productive technology, the average number of cycles 8 per person furnished, disaggregated by type of treat- 9 ment. 10 (6) A description of how infertility treatment 11 services of the Department are coordinated with 12 similar services of the Department of Defense and 13 the Indian Health Service, respectively. 14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘as- 15 sisted reproductive technology’’, ‘‘infertility treatment’’, 16 and ‘‘partner’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec- 17 tions 1701 and 1720J of title 38, United States Code, 18 respectively, as amended by this Act. 19 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS ON FURNISHING OF INFERTILITY 20 TREATMENT AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE BY 21 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 22 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 24 Veterans Affairs shall prescribe regulations— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8034 IH (1) to carry out section 1720J of title 38, 1 United States Code, as added by section 2; and 2 (2) to carry out section 1789 of such title, as 3 added by section 3. 4 (b) INTERIM POLICIES.—During the period begin- 5 ning 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act 6 and the date on which the regulations are prescribed 7 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that fer- 8 tility counseling and treatment furnished pursuant to sec- 9 tion 235 of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, 10 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020 (division 11 F of Public Law 116–94) or other provisions of law ad- 12 ministered by the Secretary include the following elements: 13 (1) The Secretary may furnish such counseling 14 and treatment to the partner of a veteran covered by 15 such provision without regard to whether the partner 16 and veteran are married. 17 (2) The Secretary may furnish such counseling 18 and treatment using donated gametes or embryos. 19 (c) PARTNER DEFINED.—In this section, the term 20 ‘‘partner’’ has the meaning given that term in section 21 1720J of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 22 2. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8034 IH SEC. 6. FACILITATION OF REPRODUCTION AND INFER- 1 TILITY RESEARCH. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of 3 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 4 end the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 7330D. Facilitation of reproduction and infertility 6 research 7 ‘‘(a) FACILITATION OF RESEARCH REQUIRED.—The 8 Secretary shall facilitate research conducted collabo- 9 ratively by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 10 Health and Human Services to improve the ability of the 11 Department of Veterans Affairs to meet the long-term re- 12 productive health care needs of veterans who have infer- 13 tility conditions that affect the veterans’ ability to repro- 14 duce. 15 ‘‘(b) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec- 16 retary shall ensure that information produced by the re- 17 search facilitated under this section that may be useful 18 for other activities of the Veterans Health Administration 19 is disseminated throughout the Veterans Health Adminis- 20 tration.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 22 at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended 23 by inserting after the item relating to section 7330C the 24 following new item: 25 ‘‘7330D. Facilitation of reproduction and infertility research.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8034 IH (c) REPORT.—Not later than three years after the 1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 2 erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the re- 3 search activities conducted by the Secretary under section 4 7330D of title 38, United States Code, as added by sub- 5 section (a). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8034.IH H8034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS