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Committee advances bill to require proactive egg-freezing and IVF coverage options for county employees
Summary
Chair Wanika Fisher’s CB-7 (proposed draft 2) to require county-offered health plans to offer proactive egg-freezing and at least 10 years of egg storage advanced from committee by a 4-0 vote; county analyst said state law already requires some IVF coverage and fiscal impact to premiums is likely small.
The Health, Human Services and Public Safety Committee on Feb. 20 advanced Chair Wanika Fisher’s CB-7 (proposed draft 2), a bill that would require health plans offered to Prince George's County employees to include coverage options for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and proactive egg freezing with a minimum 10-year storage period. The committee voted 4-0 to move the draft to the full council.
Chair Fisher said she proposed the bill after reviewing county insurance offerings and discovering that proactive egg-freezing services and egg storage were not available as options for all county employees. Fisher said the change is intended to make county employment more appealing to employees at younger reproductive ages and to reduce later IVF cycles’ cost by enabling preservation of younger oocytes.
David Noto, the legislative budget and policy analyst, told the committee that Maryland statute (Annotated Code of Maryland, Insurance Article §15-8-810 and related provisions) already mandates that some insurers offer coverage for IVF and that fertility preservation coverage exists under separate state provisions. Noto said IVF costs commonly range from $14,000 to $25,000 per cycle, that state rules may limit the number of IVF attempts per live birth and that some plans cap lifetime benefits (Noto cited a $100,000 example). Noto summarized prior state estimates that mandated infertility coverage tends to raise premiums by less than 1 percent; a New York estimate put potential premium impacts for IVF at roughly 0.5–1.1 percent and at 0.02 percent for fertility-preservation mandates.
The proposed draft 2 amendment, introduced in committee, adds a sentence specifying that “egg freezing coverage for purposes of this section shall involve proactive care and egg storage for a period of not less than 10 years.” The Office of Human Resource Management asked that the bill’s language be clear that the county executive must ensure county-contracted insurers make the coverage available for county-offered plans; the deputy director recommended wording to tie the procurement responsibility to the county executive’s plans rather than to individual providers. The Office of Law reviewed the draft and reported no legal impediments; it noted local law may be more stringent than state law.
Committee members moved the draft favorably (a motion by Chair Fisher, seconded by Council member Watson); the clerk recorded the committee vote as 4-0 in favor. Members thanked OHRM and council staff for help reviewing existing county plans. The measure will move to the full council for consideration under the committee’s favorable report.
