{"id":144793,"date":"2026-01-22T15:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144793\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T15:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:17:09","slug":"what-to-know-about-californias-law-expanding-ivf-access-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144793\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Know about California\u2019s Law Expanding IVF Access in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

California is now the 15th state in the country<\/a> to adopt insurance mandates around IVF. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology\u2019s most recent numbers show that in 2023 alone, 95,000 babies were born through IVF usage<\/a> in the United States.<\/p>\n

As conservative attacks on IVF<\/a> and the overturning of Roe v. Wade<\/a> \u2014 which previously protected abortion rights<\/a> in the U.S. \u2014 have left IVF and its providers with an uncertain legal future<\/a>, this new state law is another example of how California has been strengthening its reproductive rights<\/a> amidst an increasingly hostile federal landscape.<\/p>\n

KQED Forum\u2019s<\/a> Mina Kim spoke to Jolly, the bill\u2019s author, San Fernando Valley state Sen. Caroline Menjivar and Shefali Luthra, reporter at The 19th <\/a>on what Californians can expect to see from the new IVF law kicking in this January.<\/p>\n

What is the new California IVF law?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new law<\/a>, Senate Bill 729, dictates that large insurance groups (defined as 101 or more employees<\/a>) must expand their services to cover infertility treatments and diagnoses.<\/p>\n

In addition, according to the bill\u2019s text<\/a>, large health insurance groups also must be able to cover \u201ca maximum of 3 completed oocyte retrievals<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

An array of other fertility-related services (link to PDF)<\/a> may include:<\/p>\n

Unlimited embryo transfers
\nTubal evaluation and uterine evaluation
\nSperm DNA fragmentation analysis
\nThyroid function testing
\nOvarian reserve testing
\nProcurement of donor semen, oocyte and embryo
\nPhysician services, including consultation and referral.
\nSurgery to treat infertility
\nMedication to treat infertility
\nInfectious disease screening and testing
\nMedication to induce ovulation.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that some of these services are for \u201cmedically necessary\u201d<\/a> cases of infertility \u2014 like egg freezing before cancer treatment<\/a>. But the law is \u201cpretty broad in some ways,\u201d The 19th<\/a>\u2019s Luthra said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for treatment of infertility diagnosis and fertility treatment even beyond IVF,\u201d Luthra said. \u201cThis creates a benefit structure for anyone who is navigating fertility to really get a sense of what might be causing that and how to treat that \u2014 whether it is IVF or something else that could help you become a parent.\u201d<\/p>\n

When does this law kick in?<\/p>\n

The law kicks in for health insurance contracts issued or renewed<\/a> on or after January 2026.<\/p>\n

According to the national fertility organization Resolve, if an \u201cemployer\u2019s plan renews later in the year, coverage under California\u2019s IVF mandate may not begin until that renewal date.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The law will be delayed<\/a> for public employees who work for entities like the state government and are covered by CalPERS<\/a>. For them, the law will start on July 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

Who does this law impact?<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in having children. By adjusting the definition of infertility, the state law has now expanded access<\/a> to LGBTQ+ couples or single people who would often have to pay out of pocket for multiple treatments, Mejivar said.<\/p>\n

Previously, the definition of infertility for major insurance companies like Aetna would include a person attesting they\u2019d been having heterosexual sex for a year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that we outlawed that 30-year-old description,\u201d Mejivar said.<\/p>\n

Are there exceptions to the law?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Religious employers<\/a>, small group employers and self-funded employers are exempt<\/a> from this law. (But they can opt to offer<\/a> these services, and employees of such organizations can discuss options<\/a> with their human resources team.)<\/p>\n

In addition to expanding to small individual health plans, Mejivar is also hoping to see the expansion reach Covered California: the state\u2019s marketplace for plans offered under the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

\"AA Covered California Enrollment Center in Chula Vista on April 29, 2024. (Adriana Heldiz \/ CalMatters)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe passed my bill, the governor signed it, and it\u2019s now up to the federal government to approve it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we just got a letter that said that [federal officials are] putting a pause on all approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a rejection. They\u2019re just putting a pause,\u201d she added. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that they\u2019re going to be coming back in approving what\u2019s called the essential health benefits so that we can get more millions of people under other plans covered for IVF and fertility services.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California is now the 15th state in the country to adopt insurance mandates around IVF. The Society for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-144793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}