Senator Patty Murray (above) is the former Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Her office issued the following yesterday.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Murray Press Office
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 (202) 224-2834
VETERANS: Murray Introduces Bill to Cover Reproductive Services for Injured Servicemembers, Veterans, and Their Families
**Murray plans to introduce bill with speech on Senate floor at 11am PT/2pm ET
TODAY**
Murray
bill would expand DoD’s current fertility treatment programs,
end VA ban on in vitro fertilization (IVF)
Murray: “The men and women who serve in our military put their lives and bodies on the line for our country, and the least
we can do is provide them with the health care services they need when they get home, including access to fertility treatments”
(Washington, D.C.)
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced a bill to allow the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD)
to provide reproductive
services, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), to servicemembers,
veterans and their families who have suffered catastrophic wounds of war
that prevent them from starting families.
The Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act of 2015 would expand the current fertility services
offered to servicemembers and their families by DoD, and end the ban on in vitro fertilization services at the VA.
“The men and women
who serve in our military put their lives and bodies on the line for our
country, and the least we can do is provide them with the health care
services they need
when they get home, including access to fertility treatments,” said Senator Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “Because
of outdated policies at the Pentagon and the VA, thousands of seriously
ill or injured veterans cannot access reproductive services like in
vitro fertilization, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars from
private providers. When we send men and women
to war, we promise to take care of them when they return home. That’s
why I’ve introduced legislation to fill this shocking gap in care for
our seriously injured servicemembers and veterans.”
Read the one-pager here:
http://www.murray.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/5d39b1c7-ec65-4d6a-a8e5-b7c0888fd3ab/wvfhsa-one-pager.pdf
After more than a
decade of war, thousands of servicemembers and veterans struggle with
fertility and reproductive health. While VA and DoD offer some forms of
fertility treatment and
counseling, far too often they fail to meet the needs of these
seriously injured servicemembers and veterans. Today, severely injured
servicemembers are faced with the choice of pursuing these treatments
before separation or paying tens of thousands of dollars
out of pocket later. Severely injured veterans do not have a choice at
all. The
cost of IVF treatments
is about $7,000 per cycle within the Military Health
System, but almost doubles to $12,400 (and above) per cycle for
civilians or veterans who currently cannot receive these services from
VA because of the ban.
Data from DoD shows that between 2003 and 2013, more than 2,300
servicemembers have suffered reproductive and urinary tract trauma. The
reliance on foot
patrols in Afghanistan and the prevalence of improvised explosive
devices has left servicemembers far more susceptible to these injuries.
Though
DoD currently provides IVF, too many servicemembers are excluded from
eligibility for this and other treatments. The VA is completely barred
from providing IVF services because
of an outdated law. Senator Murray’s bill would expand VA and DoD’s
current fertility treatment and counseling offerings and empower
severely injured servicemembers and veterans to start families when the
time is right for them. The bill would lift VA’s assisted
reproductive technology (ART) ban (of which IVF is the most popular and
successful treatment) and expand ART treatments beyond DoD’s current
policy limitations. Senator Murray’s bill would also provide access to
fertility treatment for spouses, allow VA to
provide adoption assistance, and make permanent the highly successful
child care pilot program in VA.
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Leah Kennebeck
Deputy Press Secretary
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
202-224-2834