It's amazing how the US is always said to be this beacon of freedom, yet such an archaic or even third world requirement has to be challenged through the courts. Listening to Americans saying 'Constitution this' 'Constitution that', what Constitution?
“We just really want a child and start our family,” said Sarah Mills.
Sadly, like many couples Mills and her wife Gloria Torres discovered they needed fertility treatments to help Sarah conceive after clinical tests showed she suffers from ovarian cysts. Her health insurance covers fertility issues, but Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield refused to pay. Why?
“Because I did not have sexual intercourse — as mandated by the state — with a man, for two years,” Mills said. Her reaction: “I was appalled.”
New Jersey’s one of 15 states requiring insurance companies to cover fertility treatments, but the state mandate requires women to prove their infertility through “two years of unprotected sex with a man” with no regard for their sexual orientation.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield notes, it follows the state mandate, and “Horizon covers infertility services equally regardless of sexual orientation. We interpret the 2001 New Jersey law defining infertility in a gender and orientation neutral manner and our coverage standard complies with federal non-discrimination requirements.”
For now Mills and Torres will spend their own money for expensive fertility treatments. They also joined three other lesbian plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance by attorney Grace Crutcher, who calls the state mandate totally unconstitutional. Cont.
Story from - NJTV News
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