Children are the pride of any home, but especially a
Jewish home. In many ways, they are the very center of the
Jewish community. Their simple existence is a source of deep
joy to their parents and the hope they represent is a
reassurance to those around them.
As a result, though, couples who are childless,
especially in the Jewish community, feel particular pain,
faced not only with empty homes, but empty hearts and, all
too often, emptying bank accounts.
Medical treatments and procedures that may help these
couples are costly and often not covered by
insurance.
While no federal law currently requires insurance
coverage for infertility treatment, a number of states have
enacted some type of infertility insurance coverage law. Such
legislation may soon be enacted in New York, where leaders of
the State Assembly and Senate are working to craft a bill.
And now, with the Lakewood Jewish community taking the lead,
efforts are underway to help pass a similar law in New
Jersey.
Rabbi Binyomin Babad, director of the Lakewood Community
Services Corporation, recently testified before the New
Jersey Governor's Task Force on Affordability and
Accessibility of Health Care to advocate for increased
mandated health care benefits by that state.
"The Jewish value system places a great deal of emphasis
on the importance of having a family and raising children,"
said Rabbi Babad.
"The first commandment of the Torah," he explained, "is
to be fruitful and multiply. This requires us to explore
every possible avenue to help childless couples in their
determined efforts to overcome their medical
problems."
Rabbi Babad described the heartache and grief that
couples experience when they are unable to have children.
Additional problems arise, he said, when exorbitant medical
bills deplete personal financial resources.
The "Family Building Act" was introduced in the New
Jersey State Assembly by Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen and in the
State Senate by Senator Robert J. Martin. It would require
health insurers to provide coverage for medically necessary
expenses incurred in the diagnosis and treatment of
infertility.
According to Rabbi Babad, studies have shown that in
states with mandated coverage for infertility treatments,
there are actually lower incidences of expensive highly-
invasive procedures and premature and multiple births, which
have helped offset increases in costs to insurance
carriers.
"No one should be denied the opportunity to nurture and
raise a child simply because the financial burden precludes
obtaining medical treatment," concluded Rabbi Babad. "As a
representative of my community and on behalf of all who value
families, I plead with you to support this bill and bring
relief to these suffering people."
