EXCLUSIVE: AOC opens up about her fertility journey — and why insurance companies need to ‘treat women as full people’

After chronicling the process for freezing her eggs, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is joining an effort to make fertility and family planning treatments far more affordable. The four-term self-described democratic socialist from New York City spoke to The Independent about how she is a co-sponsor of legislation from Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) to make family planning affordable. The Health Savings and Affordability for Fertility Act would treat fertility treatments as medical expenses for purposes of health savings accounts. This would include egg freezing and in vitro fertilization.Ocasio-Cortez also signed onto Underwood’s Health Coverage for IVF Act, which would classify IVF as an essential health benefit that insurance companies cover under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The charter member of the House’s progressive “Squad” recently chronicled her experience on her Instagram account during the August recess, discussing how she paid between $9,000 and $10,000 out of her own pocket despite having insurance. U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has chronicled undergoing the egg freezing process. (Reuters)The very public move raised questions about whether she delayed the decision to have children to seek higher office, either for Senate or the presidency. But she also received praise even from some conservatives. Ocasio-Cortez said the process made the case for her support for single-payer health insurance. “In the big picture, of course, I believe in Medicare for all,” she said. “I believe in healthcare as a human right. And for people who say that single-payer systems could not cover fertility treatments, France, you know, has already started to do that for young women.”But Ocasio-Cortez said in the immediate term, she wanted to sign onto Underwood’s bills. “Insurance companies often do not treat women as full people in terms of what they choose to cover, whether it is fertility treatments, whether it's egg freezing, IVF, to menopause,” she told The Independent. “A lot of insurance companies don't even cover a lot of treatments for women who are struggling in perimenopause and menopause,” she said. “And so one of the things that we certainly can do is expand coverage, allow some of these expenses to to go towards your deductibles, to go towards your HSA.”Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), authored the bills Ocasio-Cortez is signing onto. (Getty)Ocasio-Cortez is not the first Democratic congresswoman to discuss freezing her eggs. Rep. Sara Jacobs of California, the youngest Jewish member of Congress, announced her decision in 2021. Ocasio-Cortez said that the drugs are often too expensive.“These drugs, so many drugs, not just fertility drugs, but many other drugs, are a fraction of the price abroad as they are than they are in the United States,” AOC said. “And people should get a fair shake at the affordability that working families in Canada, Spain, the UK, France, et cetera get to enjoy.”President Donald Trump on the campaign trail in 2024 proposed making IVF free to all Americans, but Republicans have yet to propose legislation doing so. The drug would be made available through the TrumpRX website. The president announced a deal with EMD Serono to make the drug more affordable, and in February of last year, signed an executive order to reduce out-of-pocket costs for IVF treatments.