Coverage Updates – May 2025

Big win in Georgia!

On May 1, 2025, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 94 into law, requiring state-regulated commercial health insurance plans in Georgia to cover medically necessary fertility preservation for cancer, sickle cell disease and lupus patients. It is estimated that approximately 1.8 million Georgia residents have individual, small and large group health insurance plans that will be subject to this new coverage.

“A cancer diagnosis is scary enough without the thought that the treatment you need to save your life could also take away the ability for you to have children. This legislation ensures patients undergoing chemotherapy or other life-saving treatments will not lose the chance to grow their family.”

-Georgia Governor Brian Kemp 

The new law requires health insurers subject to HB 94 to begin offering this benefit for health policies renewed or issued after January 1, 2026, and coverage includes egg, sperm, embryo and ovarian tissue cryopreservation and storage of gametes for up to one year. The Alliance for Fertility Preservation was a member of the coalition supporting HB 94 and is grateful for the leadership of our partners, including The Chick Mission, the Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology, physician leaders who lent their expertise and testified, and the many patient advocates who bravely shared their personal fertility preservation stories with lawmakers.

New York adds Medicaid Coverage for FP

On May 9, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the FY 2026 Enacted Budget, creating coverage for fertility preservation for Medicaid enrollees! The original bill that introduced this coverage was Assembly Bill A2686, sponsored by Assemblymember Alex Bores. This marks a significant expansion of coverage for those New Yorkers who need this benefit the most.

This law builds on the coverage that was attained through the budget in New York in 2020 which established fertility preservation in the individual, small, and large group insurance markets. That effort began as the Fair Access to Fertility Treatment Act (FAFTA), introduced by Assemblymember Aravella Simotas and Senator Diane Savino which opened and shaped the conversation on fertility coverage for New Yorkers.

We are grateful to Jane Rice (a constituent of Assemblymember Alex Bores, and mother of Amanda Rice, founder of the Chick Mission) for bringing this issue to the Assemblymember’s attention. We are also thankful for Assemblymember Bores and his staff for speaking about his bill at our New York Policy Forum in September 2024, and for their persistence in achieving this coverage.

The coverage is expected to be available in January 2026, and the AFP will be looking for guidance from the New York State Department of Health on the particulars, so stay tuned!

Progress in Virginia

On May 2, 2025, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed HB 1609 into law, which requires Virginia’s Health Insurance Reform Commission (HIRC) to consider adding coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and standard fertility preservation procedures to the state’s essential health benefit benchmark plan. While HB 1609 does not establish fertility preservation coverage in Virginia at this time, the passage of this bill is an important statement of support for coverage by the Virginia General Assembly and Governor Youngkin. The Alliance for Fertility Preservation applauds the continued leadership of Delegate Dan Helmer who has been a champion of the effort to expand coverage for many years. We will be closely following the process to update the essential health benefit benchmark plan in Virginia and share any new developments with the AFP community.