Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday that he and most other Republicans would likely support former President Donald Trump's call for government or insurance companies to fund in-vitro fertilization services, but he wants to first evaluate how much it will cost.
"I think we have to evaluate the fiscal impact and whether the taxpayer can afford to pay for this and what impact it would have on premiums," the Arkansas Republican told NBC News' "Meet the Press." "In principle, supporting couples is something that's not controversial at all."
Last week, Trump told NBC News that if he's elected, his administration will mandate that insurance companies pay for fertility services such as IVF.
Experts, however, have warned that his plan could cost taxpayers as much as $7 billion annually.
Vanessa Brown Calder, director of Opportunity and Family Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, reported the estimate. It was based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported 413,776 assisted reproductive technology cycles in 2021, most of which were IVF treatments.
She also warned that the figures might be even higher, as it is not clear how much financial burden the government would absorb, compared to what would be passed on to Americans through more expensive insurance premiums.
Sunday, NBC moderator Kristen Welker pressed Cotton on his support for the Trump plan, noting that earlier this year he voted against the Senate's "Right to IVF Act," which would have mandated that federal healthcare plans cover IVF procedures.
Cotton told her that the legislation was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's "ridiculous messaging bill."
Schumer, he said, has been "slapping together ridiculous bills that he thinks are going to help his liberal incumbent senators face off in their elections."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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