Not paying for X, isn't saying "no X", its just "We won't pay for X, pay for it yourself?"
Also fertility treatments (even for a first child, but esp. for people who already have a lot of kids) are not similar to life saving treatments.
Not that I want the government to be making these decisions, but that's one of the reasons I don't generally want the government funding medical care. Maybe something like Medicare (the concept of a program for the poor, more than the structure and execution of the particular program) is ok, where you allow for medical care of the poor. Medicaid seems less justified, and "universal single payer" even less.
And I don't think the program for the poor should generally pay for fertility treatments, at least not if the treatment is not one to restore fertility (fix a medical problem) but to directly cause a pregnancy without changing the underlying medical condition. It should mostly be about life saving treatment, or treatment that repairs serious medical defects, not treatment to cause a pregnancy, not enhancement plastic surgeries (treatment for burned skin is one thing, a boob job, something else). |
