Trump wants to make IVF free. Democrats, Republicans and experts are dubious

Former President Donald Trump says that he wants to make in vitro fertilization treatments free of cost, either by requiring insurance companies to cover the procedure or federally funding it.

"Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely," Trump said at a campaign rally in Michigan on Aug. 29.

Since then, neither Trump nor his campaign has offered details on how such a plan might be paid for. Still, his verbal support brought the fertility treatments to the center of a presidential race where both Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris are vying for the votes of politically women.

But health care experts are skeptical that Trump could implement such a policy on his own. And winning support for free IVF among his fellow Republicans in Congress could prove exceptionally difficult.

"The ability of the executive to do this unilaterally is quite limited," said Alina Salganicoff, a senior vice president and the director of the Women's Health Policy Program at KFF.

Mandating that insurers pay for IVF would require legislation in Congress, Salganicoff said. Another potential option would be to convince a panel of experts to add IVF to the list of fully covered women's preventative services under the Affordable Care Act. This would pose several challenges, not least of which is that Trump has tried to repeal the ACA.

It would also be difficult for members of Congress to rationalize making a single treatment like IVF free, said Sabrina Corlette, co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.

"What about chemotherapy? What about insulin? What about any other number of life-saving services that people need?" she said.

Having the government pay for IVF would similarly require an act of Congress. Lawmakers need to allocate the funds, and the cost of such a program would likely be eye-popping, experts said.

A single cycle of IVF costs over $23,000, according to FertilityIQ. Many women need four or more cycles to have a successful birth.

Another concern is that insurers required to cover IVF treatments would pass on these extra costs to consumers, said Corlette.

"We're talking about an expensive service, and if you reduce all financial barriers to it, it would add to premiums for sure," Corlette said.

Trump "supports universal access to contraception and IVF," Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's national press secretary, told CNBC in response to a question about the proposal. Leavitt declined to address how this might be paid for.

These are likely some of the reasons that Harris, who has positioned herself as a champion for women's reproductive rights, hasn't come out with a similar proposal, Salganicoff said.

"My sense is that they realize the complexities involved," Salganicoff said, speaking of the Harris campaign.

Former Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-S.C., a Harris ally, challenged the basic notion that what Trump has said about IVF even counts as a policy proposal.

"It's a silly proposition to ask is Kamala Harris going to chase Donald Trump on any issue that deals with reproductive rights," Sellers told CNBC.

"He said one sentence about IVF. That's not a policy, it's an idea that hasn't been thoroughly vetted by anyone," said Sellers.

Besides Trump's comments that he would cover "all costs" of IVF, his campaign hasn't released any formal proposal.

Trump's own platform "could effectively ban IVF" nationwide, said Sarafina Chitika, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign. Chitika pointed to the 2024 GOP platform and reports that it would encourage states to establish fetal personhood.

Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women's freedoms have been ripped away in states across the country," Chitika said. "There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris."

Senate Republicans in June blocked legislation that would guarantee women the right to IVF treatments. Meanwhile, only 39% of Republicans said it was "morally acceptable" to destroy the frozen human embryos created by IVF, Gallup found the same month.

As a result, Trump might find it hardest to get support from his own party to institute a universal IVF program, experts said.

The GOP record on regulating health insurance companies also doesn't bode well for Trump's plan, said Corlette.

"They've all been for reducing the mandates on insurers," she said.