The potential class-action lawsuit against the VA was filed by Air Force veteran Ashley Sheffield and her wife who have struggled to start a family, according to legal representatives. The benefit would not be available to former troops, career retirees or those medically retired from service or their families under Tricare, and it would not cover in vitro fertilization. The Senate's version of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes provisions that would add services such as fertility testing and intrauterine insemination, or IUI, for service members and Tricare beneficiaries. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs health subcommittee, has not been considered by the committee.

The legislation, introduced this year by Rep. The VA had requested legislation in its fiscal 2024 budget to expand its coverage of advanced fertility treatments, including IVF and adoption services, to include those who are single in a same-sex relationship or need a donated embryo, egg or sperm. Those whose infertility resulted from a service-related injury or illness also can access IVF, but that benefit is restricted to married couples able to provide their own eggs and sperm. And under DoD rules, the use of donor eggs or sperm is prohibited - an exclusion that restricts same-sex couples, even those who are legally married and who have a service-connected fertility condition, from using the benefit.Īt the VA, veterans have access to fertility testing, medication, artificial insemination, cryopreservation of gametes, counseling and more. And they can use Tricare, the military's civilian health benefits program, for limited services such as diagnoses of conditions that cause infertility and correction of medical issues that may be the source.

Other married troops can go to one of seven military treatment facilities that offer IVF, artificial insemination and other fertility services to receive services at cost. The DoD covers fertility counseling, in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technologies for married service members whose infertility is tied to a military injury or related illness.

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