File #: Int 1303-2025    Version: * Name: Requiring the department of health and mental hygiene to provide information regarding fertility treatment, including insurance coverage of fertility treatment.
Type: Introduction Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on Health
On agenda: 6/11/2025
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of health and mental hygiene to provide information regarding fertility treatment, including insurance coverage of fertility treatment
Sponsors: Shahana K. Hanif, Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Amanda Farías, Julie Won, Tiffany Cabán, Mercedes Narcisse, Diana I. Ayala, Rita C. Joseph, Farah N. Louis, Julie Menin, Sandy Nurse, Carmen N. De La Rosa, Alexa Avilés, Carlina Rivera , Nantasha M. Williams, Gale A. Brewer, Lynn C. Schulman, Sandra Ung, Crystal Hudson, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Lincoln Restler, Frank Morano
Council Member Sponsors: 22
Summary: This bill would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to conduct a public education and outreach campaign on fertility treatment, the New York State Insurance Law’s requirements for insurance coverage of fertility treatment, and Medicaid coverage of fertility treatment in New York.
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No.1303, 2. Int. No.1303, 3. June 11, 2025 - Stated Meeting Agenda

Int. No. 1303

 

By Council Members Hanif, Brooks-Powers, Farías, Won, Cabán, Narcisse, Ayala, Joseph, Louis, Menin, Nurse, De La Rosa, Avilés, Rivera, Williams, Brewer, Schulman, Ung, Hudson, Gutiérrez, Restler and Morano

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of health and mental hygiene to provide information regarding fertility treatment, including insurance coverage of fertility treatment

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1. Section 17-199.19 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 88 for the year 2022, is amended to read as follows:

§ 17-199.19 Provision of sexual and reproductive health services. a. The department shall provide sexual and reproductive health services and conduct research on sexual and reproductive health disparities within the city. In providing such services, the department shall have the power and duty to:

1. Provide outreach, education, and support to individuals, especially low-income individuals and those without health insurance, regarding issues related to sexual and reproductive health, including, but not limited to:

(a) Contraception, including a broad range of methods such as long-acting reversible contraception;

(b) Preconception health services;

(c) Abortion services;

(d) Family planning services;

(e) Testing, prevention, and treatment for HIV;

(f) Testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections;

(g) Routine screening for breast and cervical cancer; and

(h) Health education, in community settings, to promote reproductive health, prevent unintended pregnancy, and promote access to reproductive and preventive health services.

2. Make referrals, when determined appropriate by the department, to affordable and accessible services related to contraception; abortion; family planning; breast and cervical cancer screenings; and counseling, testing, and treatment for HIV and sexually transmitted infections.

3. Create and implement, in collaboration with the mayor’s office of community and ethnic media and any other relevant agency, a public education and outreach campaign designed to educate the public about fertility treatment and insurance coverage of fertility treatment. The campaign shall include in-person and virtual outreach in the designated citywide languages, as defined in section 23-1101, and utilize television, internet, radio, print media, digital kiosks, and subway and other public transportation advertisements. Campaign materials shall be distributed to public hospitals and clinics throughout the city. The campaign shall provide the following information:

(a) Different types of fertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization and fertility preservation treatment;

(b) How fertility care is an important part of comprehensive healthcare;

(c) Why it can be advantageous to access fertility care earlier rather than later;

(d) Eligibility criteria under the insurance law for coverage of fertility treatment;

(e) Fertility treatment services required under the insurance law to be covered by individual, small group, and large group comprehensive health insurance policies;

(f) Eligibility criteria under Medicaid in the state of New York for coverage of fertility treatment; and

(g) Fertility treatment services required to be covered under Medicaid in the state of New York.

b. The department shall post the materials used for outreach and education required under paragraphs 1 and 3 of subdivision a of this section on the department’s website in the designated citywide languages, as defined in section 23-1101.

§ 2. This local law takes effect 1 year after it becomes law.

SA/DM

LS #17799

06/02/2025 1:59 PM