Kaine Statement on Insurance Coverage of IVF For Federal Employees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced expanded coverage of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility services through the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program—a move that Kaine pushed for:

“If the federal government wants to continue to retain and attract the best civil servants, it must provide employees with comprehensive coverage of IVF and other assisted reproductive technology services. At a time when reproductive freedom is under threat, I’m glad that OMB heeded our calls and announced all federal employees, regardless of where they live, can access coverage for these services. I will continue working to pass my bipartisan Reproductive Freedom for All Act to restore the protections under Roe and safeguard Americans’ freedom to make their own health care decisions without government interference.”

Kaine is a cosponsor of the Family Building FEHB Fairness Act to require insurance providers in the FEHB program to provide coverage of IVF and assisted reproductive technology (ART) services. The FEHB program is the largest employer-run health insurance program in the U.S. covering more than 8 million federal employees, retirees, and their dependents.

Kaine has long championed efforts to protect reproductive freedom and IVF. In June and earlier this month, Kaine voted to pass his legislation to protect and expand access to IVF, including for federal employees, but it was blocked by Senate Republicans. In March, Kaine invited Norfolk-born Elizabeth Carr, the first person born in the United States via IVF, to join him as his guest at the State of the Union. Kaine held two roundtables in Norfolk and Arlington to discuss the need to protect IVF. After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Kaine worked across the aisle to introduce the Reproductive Freedom For All Act, a bipartisan bill to protect access to abortion and contraception.

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