| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 220 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans |
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| 6 | 6 | | Affairs to provide coverage for infertility treatment and standard fertility |
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| 7 | 7 | | preservation services, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY7, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Ms. B |
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| 11 | 11 | | ROWNLEY(for herself, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Ms. MOOREof Wis- |
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| 12 | 12 | | consin, Ms. T |
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| 13 | 13 | | LAIB, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. |
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| 14 | 14 | | T |
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| 15 | 15 | | HOMPSONof Mississippi, Ms. GARCIAof Texas, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. |
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| 16 | 16 | | N |
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| 17 | 17 | | ORTON, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. PINGREE, |
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| 18 | 18 | | Mrs. R |
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| 19 | 19 | | AMIREZ, Ms. LEGERFERNANDEZ, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. STRICKLAND, |
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| 20 | 20 | | Mr. T |
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| 21 | 21 | | ONKO, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. LARSONof Connecticut, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. |
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| 22 | 22 | | R |
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| 23 | 23 | | OSS, and Mr. CASAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred |
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| 24 | 24 | | to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 25 | 25 | | A BILL |
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| 26 | 26 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- |
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| 27 | 27 | | retary of Veterans Affairs to provide coverage for infer- |
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| 28 | 28 | | tility treatment and standard fertility preservation serv- |
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| 29 | 29 | | ices, and for other purposes. |
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| 30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Infertility 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | Treatment Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 37 | 37 | | •HR 220 IH |
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| 38 | 38 | | SEC. 2. INFERTILITY TREATMENTS FOR VETERANS. 1 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (a) A |
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| 40 | 40 | | UTHORITY.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1720J 3 |
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| 42 | 42 | | the following new section (and conforming the table of sec-4 |
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| 43 | 43 | | tions at the beginning of such chapter accordingly): 5 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘‘§ 1720K. Infertility treatment and standard fertility 6 |
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| 45 | 45 | | preservation services 7 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘(a) T |
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| 47 | 47 | | REATMENT AND SERVICES.—(1) In furnishing 8 |
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| 48 | 48 | | medical services under this chapter, at the election of a 9 |
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| 49 | 49 | | covered individual and subject to paragraph (4), the Sec-10 |
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| 50 | 50 | | retary shall furnish to the covered individual infertility 11 |
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| 51 | 51 | | treatments (including through the use of assisted repro-12 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ductive technology), standard fertility preservation serv-13 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ices, or both. 14 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ‘‘(2) In the case of in vitro fertilization treatment fur-15 |
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| 55 | 55 | | nished under paragraph (1), the Secretary may furnish 16 |
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| 56 | 56 | | to a covered individual under such paragraph not more 17 |
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| 57 | 57 | | than three completed in vitro fertilization cycles that re-18 |
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| 58 | 58 | | sult in live birth or 10 attempted in vitro fertilization cy-19 |
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| 59 | 59 | | cles, whichever occurs first. 20 |
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| 60 | 60 | | ‘‘(3) The Secretary may furnish in vitro fertilization 21 |
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| 61 | 61 | | treatment under paragraph (1) using donated gametes or 22 |
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| 62 | 62 | | embryos. 23 |
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| 63 | 63 | | ‘‘(4) The Secretary may not furnish to a covered indi-24 |
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| 64 | 64 | | vidual an in vitro fertilization cycle or other treatment or 25 |
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| 65 | 65 | | service under paragraph (1) unless the Secretary receives 26 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 68 | 68 | | •HR 220 IH |
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| 69 | 69 | | consent for such cycle, treatment, or service from each of 1 |
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| 70 | 70 | | the following: 2 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘(A) The covered individual. 3 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(B) If the covered individual is a partner of a 4 |
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| 73 | 73 | | covered veteran, the covered veteran. 5 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ‘‘(C) If applicable, the third-party donor. 6 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ‘‘(b) R |
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| 76 | 76 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-7 |
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| 77 | 77 | | tion shall be construed to require the Secretary to furnish 8 |
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| 78 | 78 | | maternity care to a covered individual, in addition to what 9 |
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| 79 | 79 | | is otherwise required by section 1786 of this title or other 10 |
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| 80 | 80 | | provisions of law. 11 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ‘‘(c) R |
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| 82 | 82 | | ELATIONSHIP TOSTATELAW.—The legal sta-12 |
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| 83 | 83 | | tus, custody, future use, donation, disposition, or destruc-13 |
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| 84 | 84 | | tion, of gametes or embryos relating to treatment or serv-14 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ices furnished under this section shall be determined in 15 |
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| 86 | 86 | | accordance with the law of the State in which the gametes 16 |
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| 87 | 87 | | or embryos are located. 17 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘(d) P |
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| 89 | 89 | | AYMENTS FOR BENEFICIARYTRAVEL FOR 18 |
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| 90 | 90 | | P |
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| 91 | 91 | | ARTNERS.—For purposes of paying travel expenses 19 |
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| 92 | 92 | | under section 111 of this title for treatment or services 20 |
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| 93 | 93 | | furnished under this section to a partner of a covered vet-21 |
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| 94 | 94 | | eran, the Secretary shall deem the partner to be a veteran 22 |
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| 95 | 95 | | receiving treatment or care under this chapter. 23 |
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| 96 | 96 | | ‘‘(e) D |
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| 97 | 97 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 |
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| 100 | 100 | | •HR 220 IH |
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| 101 | 101 | | ‘‘(1) The term ‘assisted reproductive tech-1 |
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| 102 | 102 | | nology’ includes in vitro fertilization and other infer-2 |
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| 103 | 103 | | tility treatments. 3 |
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| 104 | 104 | | ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered individual’ means a cov-4 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ered veteran or a partner of a covered veteran. 5 |
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| 106 | 106 | | ‘‘(3) The term ‘covered veteran’ means a vet-6 |
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| 107 | 107 | | eran who is enrolled in the system of annual patient 7 |
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| 108 | 108 | | enrollment established under section 1705(a) of this 8 |
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| 109 | 109 | | title and— 9 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(A) has infertility; or 10 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ‘‘(B) is at risk of having infertility, as de-11 |
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| 112 | 112 | | termined by a licensed physician based on— 12 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ‘‘(i) the medical, sexual, and repro-13 |
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| 114 | 114 | | ductive history, age, physical findings, or 14 |
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| 115 | 115 | | diagnostic testing, or a combination there-15 |
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| 116 | 116 | | of, of the veteran; or 16 |
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| 117 | 117 | | ‘‘(ii) any planned medication therapy, 17 |
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| 118 | 118 | | surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other 18 |
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| 119 | 119 | | medical treatment. 19 |
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| 120 | 120 | | ‘‘(4) The term ‘infertility’ means a disease, con-20 |
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| 121 | 121 | | dition, or status characterized by— 21 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(A) the inability of a person to reproduce 22 |
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| 123 | 123 | | either as an individual or with the partner of 23 |
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| 124 | 124 | | the individual; or 24 |
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| 127 | 127 | | •HR 220 IH |
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| 128 | 128 | | ‘‘(B) the failure to conceive a pregnancy or 1 |
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| 129 | 129 | | to carry a pregnancy to live birth after one year 2 |
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| 130 | 130 | | of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse. 3 |
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| 131 | 131 | | ‘‘(5) The term ‘partner’, with respect to a vet-4 |
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| 132 | 132 | | eran, means an individual selected by the veteran 5 |
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| 133 | 133 | | who agrees to share with the veteran the parental 6 |
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| 134 | 134 | | responsibilities with respect to any child born as a 7 |
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| 135 | 135 | | result of the use of any infertility treatment under 8 |
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| 136 | 136 | | this section. 9 |
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| 137 | 137 | | ‘‘(6) The term ‘standard fertility preservation 10 |
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| 138 | 138 | | service’ includes the procurement, cryopreservation, 11 |
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| 139 | 139 | | and storage of gametes and embryos.’’. 12 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (b) A |
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| 141 | 141 | | PPLICABILITY; REGULATIONS.— 13 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (1) A |
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| 143 | 143 | | PPLICABILITY.—Except as provided by 14 |
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| 144 | 144 | | paragraph (3)(A), section 1720K of title 38, United 15 |
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| 145 | 145 | | States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply 16 |
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| 146 | 146 | | with respect to infertility treatment and standard 17 |
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| 147 | 147 | | fertility preservation services furnished by the Sec-18 |
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| 148 | 148 | | retary of Veterans Affairs beginning on the date on 19 |
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| 149 | 149 | | which the Secretary prescribes regulations under 20 |
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| 150 | 150 | | paragraph (2). 21 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (2) R |
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| 152 | 152 | | EGULATIONS.—Not later than one year 22 |
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| 153 | 153 | | after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-23 |
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| 154 | 154 | | retary shall prescribe regulations to carry out section 24 |
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| 157 | 157 | | •HR 220 IH |
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| 158 | 158 | | 1720K of title 38, United States Code, as added by 1 |
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| 159 | 159 | | subsection (a). 2 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (3) I |
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| 161 | 161 | | NTERIM POLICIES.— 3 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (A) C |
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| 163 | 163 | | ONTINUITY OF SERVICES.—Except as 4 |
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| 164 | 164 | | provided by subparagraph (B), an individual 5 |
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| 165 | 165 | | who on the day before the date on which the 6 |
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| 166 | 166 | | Secretary prescribes regulations under para-7 |
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| 167 | 167 | | graph (2) is receiving counseling and treatment 8 |
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| 168 | 168 | | furnished by the Secretary pursuant to existing 9 |
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| 169 | 169 | | infertility authority may elect to— 10 |
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| 170 | 170 | | (i) continue receiving such counseling 11 |
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| 171 | 171 | | and services pursuant to the existing infer-12 |
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| 172 | 172 | | tility authority, subject to the limitations 13 |
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| 173 | 173 | | of that authority; or 14 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (ii) begin receiving such counseling 15 |
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| 175 | 175 | | and services pursuant to section 1720K of 16 |
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| 176 | 176 | | title 38, United States Code, as added by 17 |
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| 177 | 177 | | subsection (a), subject to the limitations of 18 |
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| 178 | 178 | | that section that shall be applied in a man-19 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ner that recognizes such counseling and 20 |
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| 180 | 180 | | services previously furnished under the ex-21 |
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| 181 | 181 | | isting infertility authority. 22 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (B) E |
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| 183 | 183 | | XPANSION OF SERVICES .—During 23 |
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| 184 | 184 | | the period beginning 180 days after the date of 24 |
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| 185 | 185 | | the enactment of this Act and ending on the 25 |
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| 189 | 189 | | date on which the Secretary prescribes regula-1 |
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| 190 | 190 | | tions under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall 2 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ensure that counseling and treatment furnished 3 |
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| 192 | 192 | | pursuant to existing infertility authority include 4 |
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| 193 | 193 | | the following elements: 5 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (i) The Secretary may furnish such 6 |
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| 195 | 195 | | counseling and treatment to the partner of 7 |
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| 196 | 196 | | a veteran covered by such provision with-8 |
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| 197 | 197 | | out regard to whether the partner and vet-9 |
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| 198 | 198 | | eran are married. 10 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (ii) The Secretary may furnish such 11 |
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| 200 | 200 | | counseling and treatment using donated 12 |
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| 201 | 201 | | gametes or embryos. 13 |
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| 202 | 202 | | (4) D |
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| 203 | 203 | | EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 14 |
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| 204 | 204 | | (A) The term ‘‘existing infertility author-15 |
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| 205 | 205 | | ity’’ means section 234(a)(1) of the Military 16 |
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| 206 | 206 | | Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related 17 |
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| 207 | 207 | | Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022 (division J 18 |
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| 208 | 208 | | of Public Law 117–103; 136 Stat. 556), or 19 |
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| 209 | 209 | | other provisions of law administered by the Sec-20 |
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| 210 | 210 | | retary of Veterans Affairs enacted before the 21 |
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| 211 | 211 | | date of the enactment of this Act that provide 22 |
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| 212 | 212 | | authority to the Secretary to furnish fertility 23 |
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| 213 | 213 | | counseling and treatment. 24 |
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| 216 | 216 | | •HR 220 IH |
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| 217 | 217 | | (B) The term ‘‘partner’’ has the meaning 1 |
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| 218 | 218 | | given that term in section 1720K of title 38, 2 |
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| 219 | 219 | | United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 3 |
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| 220 | 220 | | Æ |
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