A Bipartisan Group is Pushing to Require Insurers to Cover IVF

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation to expand access to in vitro fertilization in an effort to enact one of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises into law.

“What I’m even more committed to is making sure this is something that can get to the president’s desk,” Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, the lead Republican pushing the bill, told NOTUS in an interview in his office.

Nunn, along with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida, reintroduced the HOPE With Fertility Services Act on Thursday. The bill would require some private health insurers to cover fertility treatments, which goes further than Trump’s October executive order to encourage employers to offer IVF insurance coverage.

Both Nunn and Wasserman Schultz said the bill was important to them as parents. The Florida congresswoman opened up about how she became pregnant with twins after undergoing IVF.

“I know my own family’s experience is an example of millions who struggle with some form of infertility challenge,” Wasserman Schultz told NOTUS.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz co-sponsored legislation to expand access to fertility treatments. She was able to have twins using IVF. Susan Walsh/AP

NOTUS first reported last year that Nunn was working on the legislation and having conversations with White House officials to garner support. He said his team has been in “constant communication” with the White House.

“I remind them this is a top priority and also highlight this is, of all the legislation we do up here, this is the one that most directly impacts an American’s ability to have the research, to have the technology, to have this pathway,” Nunn said. “There’s probably nothing more important I think Washington can do than to try and really help somebody start their family.”

During his campaign, Trump promised to cover IVF costs. So far, his executive orders have fallen short from that pledge, with none requiring that insurance cover the costs of the treatment.

In response to questions from NOTUS on whether the White House endorses the bill, Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement, “No president has done more to expand fertility access for Americans struggling to start families than President Trump, who signed an executive order that led to the creation of a fertility benefit option and who reduced common fertility drug prices by over 80 percent with his Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing push.”

“The Administration will continue to build on President Trump’s pro-family, pro-life agenda,” he continued. The White House has not taken a position on this legislation.

This IVF bill was first introduced in June 2024 by former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, now the secretary of labor. The legislation would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a labor-specific law, to require that employer-sponsored plans cover IVF and other fertility treatments from people who have been diagnosed with infertility.

The legislation’s introduction this year comes as lawmakers have been shifting their focus to deal with other issues that have taken the spotlight. Trump made it clear that his legislative priority is the SAVE America Act, which would codify voter-ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements and curtail mail-in voting, among other measures. Congress has also been focused on the war with Iran.

The events pushing this issue to the back burner have worried advocates who support the bill.

“The odds of anybody picking this up right now, I mean, I’ve just got to wonder, is that really what’s going to happen?,” said Kaylen Silverberg, advisory board chair of Americans for IVF, which helped draft the legislation. “There’s just so many things that are happening right now around the world. The president’s certainly preoccupied.”

“He’s kind of in a screwy position because if he tries to push hard on something like this, then he’ll get attacked because it’ll look like he’s out of touch, he’s not paying attention to what’s going on in the Middle East. But on the other hand, if he doesn’t get involved, then people are going to criticize him because they’re going to say, ‘See, this whole thing was nothing anyway,’” Silverberg continued.

Wasserman Schultz told NOTUS that she is “concerned that the president has shifted away from his initial commitment to ensure that he would help us make in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments accessible and affordable. … That’s what this legislation is designed to accomplish.”

Democrats have questioned whether Republicans actually support IVF by pointing to their opposition to Democrats’ Right to IVF Act, which Republicans argue is too broad.

Silverberg, who has advised the White House on IVF, said he has had “several conversations” with White House officials about the HOPE With Fertility Services Act — “and it was met with positives and negatives.”

“Republicans don’t typically like mandates,” Silverberg told NOTUS. “Part of this legislation is in favor of mandates. We’re trying to get insurance companies to be mandated exactly to cover fertility treatment.”

Silverberg also stressed, “Obviously, we’re trying to do the right thing by being responsible and not breaking the bank. We’re not asking for outlandish coverage. We don’t expect to get everything covered. But if we can get basic infertility treatment covered, if we can get basic IVF covered, that would be dynamite.” He added that he’d be open to even some limits, including restrictions on the number of IVF cycles and on drug allowances.

When asked whether the White House seemed open to formally endorsing the legislation, Silverberg said, “What they want us to do is to go and garner support for the legislation, and once they see that we’re doing our job, and they see that in fact, you know, we’re getting interest, we’re getting co-signers, things like that are actually happening, then I think they’re gonna be more willing to stick their neck out and get more actively engaged.”

The bill has bipartisan support from 13 lawmakers from both parties: Nunn, Wasserman Schultz and Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Laurel Lee, Mike Lawler, Young Kim, Derrick Van Orden, Brian Fitzpatrick, Chrissy Houlahan, Donald Norcross, Pat Ryan, Dan Goldman and Greg Landsman, according to a list provided to NOTUS. Most of the co-signers, including Nunn, are in tight midterm races; advancing reproductive rights might give them a leg up with independents and female voters.

“As important as it is to get signed into law, it’s equally important to get implementation done correctly so folks can really take advantage of this opportunity. Having the Department of Labor being able to help us execute with somebody who is the original lead on this, I think those are really long ways to make successful,” Nunn said, adding that he has been in touch with Chavez-DeRemer and that “the labor team is very much in favor of what we can do for IVF and families.”

In 2024, the bill had broad bipartisan support, with 11 Democratic and 21 Republican co-sponsors — the most GOP support ever for IVF-related legislation in Congress — but it never received a vote.

Lawmakers hope this year will be different.

“If you’re a legislator, you live as an internal optimist because you have to delight in incremental change here, and you know, passing legislation is a difficult process, which is why this being a bipartisan effort is so important,” Wasserman Schultz said.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a hard piece of legislation to get through just the wickets of the entire process. We would not have jumped in with both feet if we didn’t believe that it was that important,” Nunn concurred. “Folks on both sides of the aisle want to see this be successful moving all the way to implementation.”