Effects of Infertility Mandates on Fertility

Lucie Schmidt, Williams College

Infertility currently affects over 6 million individuals in the United States, and one in ten couples cannot conceive without medical assistance. While most health insurance plans nationwide do not cover infertility diagnoses or treatments, to date fourteen states have enacted some form of infertility insurance mandate. These mandates will provide important information on the costs and benefits of further expansions of infertility coverage at either the state or the federal level. In this paper, I use fertility rates by age cohort, race and state to examine whether these mandates were successful in increasing fertility rates among those women most likely to be affected. I also examine whether mandated coverage increases access to those groups of individuals who were previously less likely to obtain services.