Aetna Fertility Coverage Discrimination Lawsuit Trimmed by Judge

A proposed class action accusing Aetna Life Insurance Co. of discriminating against non-heterosexual patients through its coverage of fertility treatments is moving forward in Connecticut after a federal judge dismissed one of the lawsuit’s three claims.

The plaintiff, “a forty-year-old homosexual woman” who sought to become pregnant through intrauterine insemination, can seek damages from Aetna based on its alleged refusal to cover these treatments unless she first demonstrated infertility by paying out-of-pocket for multiple rounds of unsuccessful insemination, Judge Vernon D. Oliver said Tuesday. Aetna said it was the woman’s employer-sponsored health plan that had ultimate authority over her benefits, ...