A doctor in Syracuse is helping infertile military members by providing in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination free of charge. The project will cater to military personnel and veterans who have sustained active duty injuries that left them infertile.
CNY Fertility Center founder Dr. Robert Kiltz said IVF and artificial insemination aren't part of and the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, health system and Tricare, a health care program for U.S. military service members and their families. Tricare offers IVF and artificial insemination procedures at military treatment facilities located in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Texas and Washington, D.C. However, patients are required to shoulder the treatment cost even though their injuries and disability are acquired from combat or during service.
According to Kiltz, an IVF treatment is usually priced around $3,900 to $7,000, Syracuse.com reported. IVF is done by manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. The embryo will then be transferred to a woman's uterus. Artificial insemination, on the other hand, is done by directly inserting sperm into a woman's womb.
VA's Ban Against IVF
The VA's refusal to shoulder IVF treatment for service members injured during active duty puts a burden into around 1,800 veterans, who were forced to retire after damaging their reproductive organs in the past years. The Pentagon, meanwhile, funds IVF treatments for active duty service members, Reuters reported.
Some efforts have been done to overturn VA's ban, but they have all failed due to the issue of limited funding. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said reprioritizing $500 million VA funds towards IVF will be a problem, especially now that VA is so far unsuccessful in providing basic health needs, Reuters added.
Birth Control For Service Women
Tricare covers many forms of contraceptives like diaphragms, pills, injectables, patches, rings and intrauterine devices, or IUD. Military clinics, however, aren't required to keep stocks of these birth control methods, Vox noted.
Women in the military have higher unplanned pregnancy rates than other female groups, the NCBI found. Another study published by the NCBI found that one-third of service women was blocked from accessing the contraceptive method they wanted before they were deployed in the military.
One of the reasons why military health care providers are slacking on providing IUDs is because keeping the device on the shelves is expensive. However, partners Allergan and Medicines360 are offering IUDs at 700 U.S. military bases for a lower cost ($55.83). Some IUDs at military clinics can cost from $330 to $650 to buy and insert, the Huffington Post wrote.
