IVF Coverage Expanded as China Works to Boost Births (1)

China’s eastern economic hub Jiangsu extended medical insurance coverage to a slew of assisted reproductive services, the latest region heeding Beijing’s call to reverse the mainland’s declining birth rate.

Starting this week, services ranging from sperm extraction to in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, will be reimbursed in 35 of Jiangsu’s medical facilities, according to a notice from the provincial medical security bureau.

Jiangsu joins at least 10 Chinese regions — from megacities Beijing and Shanghai to provinces across the country — in having assisted reproduction be covered by health insurance, data from the National Health Security Administration show. More provinces ...