Committee amends and reports out fertility-coverage bill after debate over scope and cost

Substitute House Bill 1129, a proposal that would require coverage of certain fertility services, was amended twice and reported out of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee with a due-pass recommendation after members debated who should be covered and how to limit costs.

The bill was introduced to the committee by staff; Kim Weidner summarized the bill and listed four amendments offered by Representatives Stonier and Schmick. The committee first adopted “week 2,” an amendment from Representative Stonier that narrowed the bill’s coverage to exclude small-group health plans as a cost-mitigation step. The committee then adopted “week 5,” another Stonier amendment that expanded the bill’s definitions of diagnosis and treatment of infertility to allow recommendations and findings from physician assistants and advanced registered nurse practitioners, in addition to physicians.

Two Schmic…