New scorecard ranks states on their ‘fertility friendliness’

Is your state “fertility friendly”?  Chances are it could be a little friendlier.

For National Infertility Week, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association has released its annual Fertility Scorecard – a map ranking each state by how easy it is for citizens to gain access to fertility support resources and treatments in that area.  Grades were evaluated based on the number of RESOLVE support groups, the number of fertility specialists and the overall insurance “climate” in each state.

Insurance climates were evaluated by indicating which states currently have infertility mandates – laws requiring insurance coverage of fertility treatments in that region.  If states did have these mandates, the map explained the full range of their coverage.

“For the second year in a row, we are working to highlight state-by-state disparities between access to support resources and fertility treatment, in an effort to motivate people to take action to improve their state’s fertility friendliness,” Barbara Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE, said in a press release. “We developed the scorecard not to publicly call out specific states for their lack of access, but to bring attention to what still needs to be done in terms of improving access to care and support in every state.”

Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts were the only states to receive A grades, while Alaska, Wyoming and New Hampshire received failing scores. The majority of states scored in the B and C range.

Additionally, RESOLVE highlighted specific states they believe are “key states for action” – meaning the state’s infertility mandate may be in jeopardy or the state’s lawmakers have a history of passing laws that negatively impact the infertility community.

“We hope that by providing The Fertility Scorecard as a resource for people suffering with the disease of infertility we will help them take control of their fertility journey by becoming more educated about how to address both the financial and emotional barriers they encounter,” said Collura. “We want to create conversations between patients, HCPs, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, policymakers and employers that will increase access to fertility treatment nationwide.”

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