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Aetna LGBTQ Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Emma Goidel filed a class action lawsuit against Aetna Inc.
- Why: Plaintiff claims Aetna offers student health plans that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals by not providing equal access to fertility treatment.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
Aetna Inc. discriminates against LGBTQ customers by offering health plans that fail to provide equal access to fertility treatment, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Emma Goidel claims Aetna requires individuals who cannot conceive through sexual intercourse on account of their gender identity or sexual orientation to pay out of pocket for the first 12 cycles of intrauterine insemination (IUI).
Goidel wants to represent a Class of consumers who are, or will be, covered by an Aetna student health plan in New York that denies them equal access to fertility treatments based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Goidel says she and her spouse are enrolled in Aetna’s Student Health Plan for Columbia University, which provides coverage for IUI and in vitro fertilization, including immediate coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for individuals who failed to get pregnant after having unprotected sex for at least 12 months, according to the class action lawsuit.
Goidel claims she had to pay nearly $45,000 out of pocket, however, since she and her spouse are not able to conceive through sexual intercourse. Other LGBTQ individuals have similarly had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in order to become pregnant, the class action lawsuit alleges.
“Aetna’s discriminatory policy is an illegal tax on LGBTQ individuals that denies the equal rights of LGBTQ individuals to have children,” states the class action lawsuit.
Aetna’s Fertility Treatment Policy Leads to LGBTQ Discrimination, Lawsuit Claims
Goidel claims the language in Aetna’s policy “openly discriminates,” against LGBTQ individuals and violates Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, New York State Human Rights Law, and New York City Human Rights Law.
“At worst, these exorbitant costs are prohibitive and entirely prevent people who are unable to shoulder them—disproportionately LGBTQ people of color—from becoming pregnant and starting a family,” states the class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff is demanding a jury and seeking relief in the form of compensatory and punitive damages for themselves and all Class Members.
A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Aetna in 2017 alleging the company revealed the HIV status of thousands of consumers after mailing medication instructions with partially transparent envelopes.
Are you an LGBTQ individual covered by an Aetna student health plan and unable to afford IUI or IVF treatment? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Zoe Salzman and Noel R. León of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP and Sunu Chandy, Michelle Banker, Lauren Gorodetsky, and Alison Tanner of the National Women’s Law Center.
The Aetna LGBTQ Class Action Lawsuit is Goidel v. Aetna Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-07619, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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