Four New Jersey women filed a federal lawsuit last week charging that a state insurance law regarding payments for fertility treatments is discriminatory against same-sex couples.
New Jersey is one of 15 states that requires insurance providers to pay for infertility treatments. However, the wording of the state’s law requires that patients prove they are infertile through both medical documentation and by attesting to unprotected heterosexual sex.
Erin and Marianne Krupa, of Montclair, and Sol Mejias and Sarah Mills, of North Bergen and Union City, respectively, were denied coverage by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield because of the language defining infertility. The company eventually agreed to pay for the Krupas’ infertility treatments, but has continued to deny payments for treatments for Mejias and Mills.
In a statement issued this week, attorney Grace Cathryn Cretcher of Beranbaum Menken LLP, who is representing the couples, said their “goal in filing this case is to affirm that this most basic human hope — to experience the joy of bringing a child into the world — is one shared by New Jerseyans regardless of sexuality, and that the state’s interest in building strong families and strong communities is best served by protecting the ability of all its citizens to realize their dreams of becoming parents.
Garden State Equality executive director Christian Fuscarino noted in a statement that New Jersey Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt have introduced legislation to rectify the language in the law. California and Maryland have adopted laws clarifying that insurance companies must offer benefits regardless of patients’ sexual orientation.
“We look forward to working with [Weinberg and Lampitt] to ensure the language is as protective for same-sex couples as possible,” Fuscarino said.