Aetna sued over alleged discriminatory practices against LGBTQ couples seeking fertility treatment
Aetna was hit with a class-action lawsuit that alleges that the health insurer discriminates against LGBTQ couples seeking fertility treatment.
According to the suit, filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan, Aetna’s policy for coverage of IVF (in vitro fertilization) and IUI (intrauterine insemination) fertility treatments unfairly discriminates against LGBTQ couples.
While Aetna’s policy provides immediate coverage to straight couples who have not gotten pregnant after having unprotected sex for 12 months — without any out-of-pocket costs — LGBTQ families are required to pay out of pocket for 12 cycles of IUI before they can receive coverage, according to the suit.
Plaintiff Emma Goidel and her spouse, who are enrolled in Aetna’s Student Health Plan for Columbia University, were forced to spend nearly $45,000 for fertility treatments as a result of the policy.
Goidel is suing on behalf of herself and other LGBTQ individuals to end the policy enforced by the health insurance giant.
“It is everyone’s right to create a family, and to try to biologically bear their own children if they so choose,” Goidel said in a statement shared with the Daily News.
“Health insurance must protect that right by covering medical costs equally for those who need fertility treatment to reproduce — not discriminating against queer people,” she added.
The policy is “effectively a tax on LGBTQ policy-holders,” according to Noel León, an attorney with Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, a New York-based civil rights law representing Goidel.
“It prevents LGBTQ individuals who are unable to shoulder the considerable cost of fertility treatments — disproportionately those of color — from becoming pregnant and thus denies their equal rights to start families,” León said.
“Aetna must change its illegal policy immediately — for patients like Emma, and especially for those who cannot afford this care,” added Michelle Banker, the director of reproductive rights and health litigation at the National Women’s Law Center, who’s also representing the plaintiff.
“Discrimination should have no place in health care, and we will make sure insurance companies like Aetna are held accountable,” Banker added.
On Tuesday an Aetna spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Hill that some of Goidel and her partner’s costs were “improperly denied.”
“Upon further review, certain costs were improperly denied after a change in New York State coverage requirements only weeks earlier,” the spokesperson said. “Those costs will be promptly covered, and we’ll review similar cases to ensure coverage decisions were made according to the new requirements. We have a history of support for the LGBTQ community, which we’ll continue to build on.”
