That’s thanks to a bill signed last week by President Barack Obama. The bill allows the VA to cover the costs for the next two years from existing agency healthcare funds, according to the article.
Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered increased spinal cord and genital injuries compared to veterans in past conflicts due to the widespread use of improvised explosive devices in combat zones, reports The Washington Post. Therefore, many of these wounded veterans are left unable to have a child naturally.
But for more than 24 years, the VA was not authorized to cover the costs of IVF, according to the report.
That ban could not be lifted since the provision — allowing the VA to start paying for IVF and adoptions for wounded veterans — was attached to an appropriations bill, according to the report. However, the provision, authored by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), works around the ban by authorizing the VA to use its existing funds. It would require reauthorization every two years.
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