Delaware 149th General Assembly (2017-2018) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 10 D · 1 R cosponsors

SB 139 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL SERVICES.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 10, 2018. Enacted.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 98% · high confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 27 sponsors

    2 primary, 25 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (10 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This Act requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility care services, including in vitro fertilization ("IVF") procedures, for individuals who suffer from a disease or condition that results in the inability to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to a live birth. This Act also requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility preservation for individuals diagnosed with cancer and other diseases, when medically necessary treatment could adversely affect their fertility. Like all other diseases, infertility should be covered by insurance. According to the National Infertility Association, RESOLVE, infertility affects 1 in 8 couples and 3 in 4 never obtain needed treatment, often because they cannot afford it. Everyone deserves the right to procreate and to try to build a family. Right now, many Delaware families diagnosed with infertility fall into a “coverage gap” and pay out-of-pocket for fertility care services. Only certain employers provide any fertility care coverage in Delaware and what they do provide is often very limited. Families generally must pay high co-pays or adhere to service restrictions and lifetime dollar caps that strictly limit their treatment options, and thus make it unaffordable for many of them to proceed without risking their financial security or without achieving a successful pregnancy. For example, 1 IVF cycle can cost between $15,000 and $25,000 and, on average, it takes 2 to 3 cycles to achieve pregnancy. Additionally, highly inflated managed care pharmacy prices for IVF medications, where families with coverage can pay as much as 100% more for medications compared to prices charged to self-pay families, often contribute to 25-50% or more of total IVF costs, which can quickly drain lifetime caps and severely limit overall IVF care options. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states currently have laws regarding insurance coverage for infertility diagnosis or treatment, including 2 states that border Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. This puts the State at a significant competitive disadvantage, as many reproductive age residents intentionally change employers and leave Delaware to gain more attractive fertility care benefits. It is also well-documented that individuals who self-pay for an IVF procedure, or have limited benefits, often demand that 2 or more embryos be transferred to their uterus. This greatly increases the risk of multiple births and is a dangerous and costly approach for heavily burdened health care resources, and can be completely avoided with greater access to covered fertility care services. Studies show that states with insurance coverage have a lower rate of multiple births because fewer embryos are transferred. This Act requires insurers to cover fertility care services based on the current standard of care for IVF treatments to achieve pregnancy success rates for singleton births at the lowest possible costs. This will greatly reduce the risk of multiple births and greatly reduce hospital and health care costs, thus saving employers money. Several recent studies have found that the cost of perinatal and neonatal care for twins is about $100,000, whereas singleton pregnancies cost about $13,000. Triplet pregnancies can cost $400,000 or more. For every 100 pregnancies from IVF that are singletons but could have been twins, about $8.7 million dollars is saved, on top of reduced pain and suffering for parents and premature babies. This Act would significantly reduce this high financial and societal burden by promoting IVF technologies that use single-embryo transfers. This Act could increase the number of persons treated for infertility, but also increase the number of babies born in Delaware by 2-300 per year, thus increasing the state’s birth rate by 1-2% and providing a boost to the local economy, while also decreasing health care costs.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 NO

  3. Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 2 Favorable, 9 On Its Merits

  4. Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House

  5. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  6. Amendment SA 2 to SB 139 - Stricken in Senate

  7. Amendment SA 1 to SB 139 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  8. Amendment SA 1 to SB 139 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  9. Reported Out of Committee (Health, Children & Social Services) in Senate with 4 Favorable

  10. Introduced and Assigned to Health, Children & Social Services Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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2 sponsors · 25 co-sponsors · 35 not signed on · 2 voted No

Sponsors (2)

Co-sponsors (25)

Not signed on (35)

35 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 35 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SM

Passed 39 Yea · 2 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 25000
Democratic 7000
Republican 7200
Total 39200
% of votes cast 95%5%0%0%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Andria L. Bennett — Yea
Bryon H. Short — Yea
Charles Potter Jr. — Yea
David Bentz — Yea
Deborah Hudson — Yea
Earl G. Jaques Jr. — Yea
Gerald L. Brady — Yea
Harvey R. Kenton — Yea
Helene M. Keeley — Yea
James Johnson — Yea
John A. Kowalko — Yea
John J. Viola — Yea
John L. Mitchell — Yea
Joseph E. Miro — Yea
Melanie George Smith — Yea
Michael Mulrooney — Yea
Michael Ramone — Yea
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — Yea
Quinton Johnson — Yea
Ruth Briggs King — Yea
Sean Matthews — Yea
Stephen Smyk — Yea
Valerie Longhurst — Yea
William R. Outten — Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Nay
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Nay
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 21 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 12000
Democratic 5000
Republican 4000
Total 21000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Anthony Delcollo — Yea
Brian J. Bushweller — Yea
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Catherine Cloutier — Yea
Colin Bonini — Yea
David B. McBride — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
F. Gary Simpson — Yea
Gregory F. Lavelle — Yea
Harris B. McDowell — Yea
Margaret Rose Henry — Yea
Robert Marshall — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

healthcare health-insurance
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 139 do?
This Act requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility care services, including in vitro fertilization ("IVF") procedures, for individuals who suffer from a disease or condition that results in the inability to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to a live birth. This Act also requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility preservation for individuals diagnosed with cancer and other diseases, when medically necessary treatment could adversely affect their fertility. Like all other diseases, infertility should be covered by insurance. According to the National Infertility Association, RESOLVE, infertility affects 1 in 8 couples and 3 in 4 never obtain needed treatment, often because they cannot afford it. Everyone deserves the right to procreate and to try to build a family. Right now, many Delaware families diagnosed with infertility fall into a “coverage gap” and pay out-of-pocket for fertility care services. Only certain employers provide any fertility care coverage in Delaware and what they do provide is often very limited. Families generally must pay high co-pays or adhere to service restrictions and lifetime dollar caps that strictly limit their treatment options, and thus make it unaffordable for many of them to proceed without risking their financial security or without achieving a successful pregnancy. For example, 1 IVF cycle can cost between $15,000 and $25,000 and, on average, it takes 2 to 3 cycles to achieve pregnancy. Additionally, highly inflated managed care pharmacy prices for IVF medications, where families with coverage can pay as much as 100% more for medications compared to prices charged to self-pay families, often contribute to 25-50% or more of total IVF costs, which can quickly drain lifetime caps and severely limit overall IVF care options. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states currently have laws regarding insurance coverage for infertility diagnosis or treatment, including 2 states that border Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. This puts the State at a significant competitive disadvantage, as many reproductive age residents intentionally change employers and leave Delaware to gain more attractive fertility care benefits. It is also well-documented that individuals who self-pay for an IVF procedure, or have limited benefits, often demand that 2 or more embryos be transferred to their uterus. This greatly increases the risk of multiple births and is a dangerous and costly approach for heavily burdened health care resources, and can be completely avoided with greater access to covered fertility care services. Studies show that states with insurance coverage have a lower rate of multiple births because fewer embryos are transferred. This Act requires insurers to cover fertility care services based on the current standard of care for IVF treatments to achieve pregnancy success rates for singleton births at the lowest possible costs. This will greatly reduce the risk of multiple births and greatly reduce hospital and health care costs, thus saving employers money. Several recent studies have found that the cost of perinatal and neonatal care for twins is about $100,000, whereas singleton pregnancies cost about $13,000. Triplet pregnancies can cost $400,000 or more. For every 100 pregnancies from IVF that are singletons but could have been twins, about $8.7 million dollars is saved, on top of reduced pain and suffering for parents and premature babies. This Act would significantly reduce this high financial and societal burden by promoting IVF technologies that use single-embryo transfers. This Act could increase the number of persons treated for infertility, but also increase the number of babies born in Delaware by 2-300 per year, thus increasing the state’s birth rate by 1-2% and providing a boost to the local economy, while also decreasing health care costs.
Who sponsors SB 139?
SB 139 is sponsored by Bryan Townsend (Democratic), Stephanie L. Hansen (Democratic), Nicole Poore (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Stephanie T. Bolden (Democratic), William J. Carson (Democratic), Debra Heffernan (Democratic), Kevin S Hensley (Republican), Sean M. Lynn (Democratic), Trey Paradee (Democratic), Kimberly Williams (Democratic), Melanie George Smith, Gerald L. Brady, David Bentz, Andria L. Bennett, Paul S. Baumbach, F. Gary Simpson, Ernesto B Lopez, Margaret Rose Henry, John L. Mitchell, Sean Matthews, Helene M. Keeley, Earl G. Jaques Jr., Deborah Hudson, Bruce C. Ennis, Catherine Cloutier, and Valerie Longhurst.
What is the current status of SB 139?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 10, 2018. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 139?
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