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Join RESOLVE’s leadership team for an in-depth look at what it takes to pass pro-family legislation, protect IVF, and what we’re up against.
HOSTS
President & CEO, Barb Collura
Chief Engagement Officer, Betsy Campbell
Chief External Affairs Officer, Rebecca Flick
ABOUT RESOLVE
RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association is the largest non-profit patient advocacy organization in the country focusing on increasing access to all family building options through insurance coverage and policy changes as well as protecting fertility care like IVF from legislation.
Hi. You're listening to Infertility Discourse, a podcast from RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association. This is one of your hosts, Rebecca Flick.
Barb Collura:Hi there. I'm Barb Collura.
Rebecca Flick:And we are here on a, very quick, and special episode. We want to release some information around the executive order released by the White House this week. What's the date this week? It's February well, today's February 20, and this executive order...
Barb Collura:It came out on February 18th.
Rebecca Flick:February 18th. There you go. So, February 18th, the White House released an executive order around IVF and access and affordability around IVF. We were alerted to this actually before it came out. That will be some insider information that we can share.
Barb Collura:Minutes before. Minutes before. Not days or hours. Minutes before.
Rebecca Flick:And we wanna just kind of give some insight as to what we know and where RESOLVE stands as of right now. So, Barb, tell us really what two things really quickly. What is an executive order and what does this one specifically do?
Barb Collura:Well, I'm not an expert on executive orders, but I think we all are by now. But in essence, an executive order is an opportunity for, the President of The United States to tell the administration to do something. Our democracy works by Congress passing laws, and the role of the administration is to carry out those laws. In the case of an executive order, you're bypassing that congressional approval, and you are as the chief executive of the administration saying, we will do this in the administration. It really encompasses what the administration, has the capability to do.
Barb Collura:This executive order is quite simple. There was a lot of fluff, there was a lot of rhetoric, there's a lot of interesting headlines, but here's the simple truth. It tells a person, the title of that person is listed in the executive order, and it tells that person within ninety days, come back with policy recommendations on protecting access to IVF and expanding access through insurance coverage. It words it in a different way, but in essence, that is what it's doing. So if you look at the calendar, this came out on February 18.
Barb Collura:We're talking roughly May or so. May 18th, 19th, 20th, somewhere around there. We would anticipate this, individual at the White House returning with their policy recommendations.
Rebecca Flick:And that person is the deputy domestic policy adviser. Who has a name?
Barb Collura:We found his name, I think, on on Google.
Rebecca Flick:Vince Haley.
Barb Collura:We don't know anything about him. We've never talked to him, but I don't know if this person knows anything about IVF. But what for whatever reason they've been asked to do this.
Rebecca Flick:And in full disclosure, so often in my job here at RESOLVE, if someone of of notoriety is involved in our issue, I immediately Google that person's name and IVF and infertility to see if maybe they've talked about it. And in this case, no. We could not come up with anything.
Barb Collura:Okay.
Rebecca Flick:So it's a little side note there.
Rebecca Flick:So, you know, we're all consumers of the news. We live this, you know, in this country day to day. We understand that there have been a lot of executive orders coming out of the White House since the new administration took office. And, you know, we've heard from our community and and our stakeholders about some skepticism and concern, and not clear on what the executive order actually says or does or if it will help. What do we... what are you thinking about that, Barb?
Barb Collura:Yeah. All we know is that this person is gonna come back with policy recommendations. What does that even mean? We don't know. Are these policy recommendations that Congress could then pass?
Barb Collura:Are these things that the administration could do? We have no idea. Are these things that they're gonna say, hey, state governments, you should do this. We have absolutely no idea. We don't know what that coverage is gonna look like.
Barb Collura:We don't know who's gonna pay for it. We don't know if it impacts people in the military or people in private and companies. We have no idea. In fact, this was so light on details. I have said to many reporters the last twenty four hours, this does not fulfill Trump's campaign promise.
Barb Collura:We've heard promises made, promises kept. This is not the fulfillment of his promise, and let's be clear on that. All this is asking for is give me a report of policy recommendations. Doesn't mean they're ever gonna be implemented. Doesn't mean they're even practical. We have no idea.
Rebecca Flick:So why then would RESOLVE, you know, create a statement, release a statement, be talking to the media about this? Even though a lot of people say this is performative or this is for media attention, You know, why why did we make a statement?
Barb Collura:Let me just respond to the performative and this is not really gonna result in anything. You could be 100% right. We'll see you in ninety days. I have no information that tells me that they're going to do this or that they're not gonna do this. Executive orders have some sort of weight.
Barb Collura:They make a big deal about it. The media is tracking it. So, they'll look really stupid quite honestly if they don't do anything. But I don't know. Your question though was about why do we put out a statement.
Barb Collura:Well, first of all, this executive order is about policy recommendations related to protecting and expanding IVF. Guess what RESOLVE has been doing for decades? Exactly that.
Rebecca Flick:Right.
Barb Collura:Rebecca, we are experts on this. There are only a few of us in The United States who can say that. We are one of the few. We are experts on this. We know what we're talking about.
Barb Collura:It would have been quite honestly a dereliction of your duty and my duty had we not put out some kind of statement responding to this. And look, we know what great looks like. I'm kind of like standing there waving an arm saying, "Hello, mister domestic policy adviser over in the White House. Go to our website, check out our stuff," because we have it all there. I was just looking at the Washington Post on my phone because they interviewed me.
Barb Collura:And I don't know if they quoted me or not. And they did. And I have to laugh because the quote I wrote said, "Quite honestly, we don't need ninety days. We could get this done in a few weeks."
Rebecca Flick:Right.
Barb Collura:And that's that's exactly right. Like, we've done this, and we have all the information. We know what great looks like. Peruse our website, mister domestic policy advisor, and see what you find.
Rebecca Flick:Yeah. And I know we've talked about this a lot on our podcast, but, you know, we are a nonpartisan organization and we continue to have to react to things that any administration does, when it touches our issues. We, you know, value the feedback that we're receiving from the community. We understand the confusion around this. We don't see anything specific in terms of who future policies may or may not cover and but what we know are RESOLVE's advocacy values.
Rebecca Flick:We know we have the definition of infertility from the ASRM, which we follow explicitly. We have model benefits that are on our website that we know benefit anyone who needs to build their family using Assisted Reproductive Technologies and that's where we'll continue to stand. And that's why it's important that an organization that represents the patient like RESOLVE, acknowledge this executive order and the action of the executive order and be there on the follow-up. We will be there every single day for the next ninety days trying to understand the role that we can play and the bring the voice of the patient to the table.
Barb Collura:You know, you started this by saying we work with we have to work with any any administration. That goes for state legislators. That goes with for governors. That goes for members of Congress.
Barb Collura:That goes for administrations. You and I have been at RESOLVE a long time through a lot of different folks in the White House and and certainly running Congress. And I do a lot of work at the state level. Our colleagues do most of that. But we don't get to pick and choose who's governor, who's the speaker of the house, who's the senate majority leader, and who's in the White House.
Barb Collura:And our issues are only about our mission. I know that there is a lot of other things that, this administration is doing that is very, very concerning, and some people may support it. But the point is, is that I can only be an advocate for what our mission calls us to do, which is protecting and expanding access to care and serving our communities. So it doesn't matter, Rebecca, what you think or what I think. It really is what is, RESOLVE's mission and how do we carry that forward, putting patients first.
Barb Collura:Patients are at the center of RESOLVE's mission. We are going to advocate for patients, and we are gonna ensure that they are first. If there's nothing else that we do in relation to this executive order that we are yelling and screaming and talking to the media about the importance of listening to patients. Because at the end of the day, by God, I hope somebody at the White House does. May not be me, it may not be you, but I hope they do.
Rebecca Flick:So what can our community do right now? You know, this has been a crazy week, a lot of, you know, social media consumption around this executive order. And I know folks just wanna say, what what can I do?
Barb Collura:Yeah. I mean, first and foremost, understand the facts, understand what this executive order does do and doesn't do, and be a beacon of truth in your community because, you're connected with RESOLVE, and we want the best and most accurate information out there. Make sure if you're listening to this and you're only following us on social, please sign up for our emails. Go to resolve.org. We call it the RESOLVE Advocacy Network or R.A.N., ran.
Barb Collura:This way, you get, more targeted communications from us regarding advocacy initiatives. And look, amazing thing you can do right now is you can go to resolve.org and you can register for advocacy day. Rebecca, I know right around that ninety day mark-
Rebecca Flick:Oh my god.
Barb Collura:I saw that look on your face when I was doing the math and May 20. No, we cannot make this up. May 20 is our federal advocacy day that we do in partnership with the ASRM. We are super, excited and honored to do this with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. It brings providers, patients, the entire community together.
Barb Collura:Guess what, Rebecca? It's free. Guess what? You don't have to come to Washington. Don't come to the swamp.
Barb Collura:You get to do this in the comfort of your own home. We do all the training. We make your appointments for you. You're connected with people in your state. It's an incredibly empowering day.
Barb Collura:I don't know what we're gonna say on May 20, but I can assure you it'll be very productive and a good use of your time.
Rebecca Flick:Awesome. Well, thanks for jumping on so quickly. We'll be updating our website, resolve.org, and our social media channels with more information. Make no mistake, when the policy recommendations come out, If they do not align with our advocacy values, we will make sure that we're fighting back.
Barb Collura:One-hundred percent.
Rebecca Flick:All of us know what we know right now, and that is a lot of unknowns. So please stay connected, and we will report back soon.
Barb Collura:Thank you.