Bill would expand fertility coverage for veterans
Source: AP-Excite
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) - The roadside bomb that exploded outside Andrew Robinson's Humvee in Iraq six years ago broke the Marine staff sergeant's neck and left him without use of his legs. It also cast doubt on his ability to father a child, a gnawing emotional wound for a then-23-year-old who had planned to start a family with his wife of less than two years.
The catastrophic spinal cord injury meant the couple's best hope for children was in vitro fertilization, an expensive and time-consuming medical procedure whose cost isn't covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robinson and his wife were forced to pay out of pocket, with help from a doctor's discount and drugs donated by other patients.
A bill being considered in the Senate would expand the VA's medical benefits package so other veterans, and their spouses or surrogates, don't have to bear the same expense. The department currently covers a range of medical treatment for veterans, including some infertility care, but the legislation specifically authorizes the VA to cover IVF and to pay for procedures now provided for some critically injured active-duty soldiers.
The bill's meant to help wounded veterans start families as they return home from war and to address a harrowing consequence of combat that can radically change a couple's marriage but receives less attention than post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120818/DA0NUBTO2.html
In this photo taken Aug. 6, 2012, Brenda and Chuck Isaacson play in their back yard with their 16-month old daughter, in Sun Prairie, Wis. A bill being considered in the Senate would expand the VA's medical benefits package so other veterans, and their spouses or surrogates, don't have to bear the same expense. The department currently covers a range of medical treatment for veterans, including some infertility care, but the legislation would authorize the VA to cover the cost of IVF and to pay for procedures now covered for some critically injured active-duty soldiers. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Will its benefits only be for married troops? Can single troops who have yet to marry, but would like to do so someday, also benefit from this bill?
as long as you have a service-connected disability you are covered by the VA for life, which includes any procedures or treatments. You can be an 18-year old when you get injured and get this treatment at the age of 40, if you want it.
Daemonaquila
(1,712 posts)Oh, sure - roll over on paying for preventing and ending pregnancy, but let's pay for further overpopulating the planet and making more kids a lot of people can't afford. ANY coverage, for anyone, for IVF or other expensive methods of having kids when mother nature says no, is unethical. Want a family? Adopt.
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)They could end up in the same shit I went through.
PavePusher
(15,374 posts)Preferably on another web-site.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,369 posts)PavePusher
(15,374 posts)I hope it wasn't anything expensive...