How we can fight back....

I wanted to thank Roxie for telling me about this bill that was introduced into the U.S Senate by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) this past month. This bill is called the Family Act of 2011, S 965, and is a bill to create a tax credit for the out-of-pocket costs associated with infertility medical treatment.

Key provisions of the bill:

-The Family Act covers the out-of-pocket costs associated with in vitro fertilization (IVF) including diagnostic tests, laboratory charges, professional charges, and medications for IVF.
-The Family Act covers the out-of-pocket costs of fertility preservation procedures if the man or woman is diagnosed with cancer and the cancer treatment or disease itself may result in infertility.
-The Family Act has a cost sharing provision allowing 50% of all applicable medical expenses to be covered up to a lifetime maximum of $13,360. You would need to have out-of-pocket costs totaling $26,720 to claim the entire credit in your lifetime.
-If you do not owe taxes in a particular year, do not owe enough taxes to use the whole credit, or do not reach the max amount in one tax year, it carries over to the next year for a max of five years after the first year you use the credit.
-The Family Act is available to couples filing jointly with adjusted gross incomes of less than $222,520, but the credit is smaller for those earning between $182,500 and $222,520.

Infertility has taken so much from me over the past few years, and for that…I am always looking for ways to somehow…even just a little fight back against this horrific disease. If you’d like to fight back (and I know you all do!) then visit the Resolve webpage at http://www.resolve.org/family-building-options/insurance_coverage/federal-laws.html and write to your senators! I wrote to my senators and received responses back from them thanking me for telling them what I care about and how they can best represent me. If we don’t speak up…then our leaders don’t know what is important to us! Every single letter counts, so don’t think your voice is too small to matter! Resolve has put together a nice letter, and you can add in your own story (which I did,) and then Resolve will email off your letter to your Senators!

Girls, let’s speak up at the unfairness of how we are treated when it comes to the costs associated with infertility and IVF! I am tired of having to pay a high price tag for what most people get for free! We should NEVER have to pay such high amounts for something we were all put on this earth to innately accomplish! Speak up! Let’s try and win just this one little battle…a tax credit isn’t much, but it will help, and that’s at least a start…..