STAND. COM. REP. NO. 688

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 502

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 502, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IN VITRO FERTILIZATION INSURANCE COVERAGE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to ensure equal access to assisted reproductive technologies. 

 

     Specifically, this measure requires insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization procedures for:

 

     (1)  Same-sex couples;

 

     (2)  All women, regardless of marital status; and

 

     (3)  Male-female couples for whom male infertility is the relevant factor.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Kaiser Permanente; American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Hawaii Section; Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii; Democratic Party of Hawaii; American Association of University Women - Hawaii; RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association; Hawaii LGBT Legal Association; Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii; Hawaii Women Lawyers; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii; Hawaii Women's Coalition; Advanced Reproductive Medicine and Gynecology; and fourteen concerned citizens.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Hawaii Medical Service Association and Hawaii Association of Health Plans.

 

     Your Committee finds that existing law requires insurance companies to cover a one-time benefit for costs associated with in vitro fertilization procedures, but only if a patient's oocytes are fertilized with the patient's spouse's sperm.  Insurance companies are not required to provide this benefit to same-sex couples and unmarried women.  Consequently, these individuals bear the full cost of the procedures, which are about $10,000 to $15,000 per cycle.  Current law also does not require coverage of male-female couples for whom male infertility is the relevant factor.  Your Committee finds that this measure will address these inequalities and ensure that individuals seeking medical fertility assistance are not discriminated against on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or marital status.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 502, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair