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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.
Hello. Welcome to infertility discourse brought to you by Resolve, the National Infertility Association. I'm Rebecca Flick.
Barb Collura:Hello. This is Barb Collura.
Betsy Campbell:And I'm Betsy Campbell back from vacation.
Rebecca Flick:Thank you, Betsy. We're so glad you get to be with us. This will be your your trio ongoing here at infertility course unless one of us, you know, gets to take a vacation and we'll be very, very happy about that. Let's go. And Betsy, you're back in in perfect time for this episode because we wanna talk a little bit about state advocacy and the work that Resolve does.
Rebecca Flick:And even though on the calendar, we're still in 2020 4, July, the state legislative season is over, for the most part. For the most part. Okay. I knew you were gonna say that. Overall, before we we dive into one particular state, what what was the state legislative season like for you and your team?
Barb Collura:Oh god. This is where you say, Rebecca, in three words, how would you describe this this 2024 season?
Betsy Campbell:I can do 4 words. It was a roller coaster. And, actually, I probably say that every year because that is the nature of state advocacy. You go in thinking one thing and then everything changes, but we're used to that. And so and our advocates are amazing.
Betsy Campbell:So, they're they're used to this roller coaster ride as well.
Barb Collura:It's like the best laid it's yeah. Best laid plans.
Betsy Campbell:Right.
Barb Collura:Don't don't don't don't work in state advocacy if that's the way you operate.
Betsy Campbell:Well, you know, infertility patients, this it's just like the journey. Right? Lots of twists and turns. And in some ways, you know, they're used to it, sadly.
Rebecca Flick:They're almost like our Dramamine. Right? They keep us balanced as advocates on the on the upside down parts. So this this episode, we wanna talk a little bit about what happened this year or what's been happening in Minnesota. But first, our our fun fact brought to you by resolve.
Rebecca Flick:We have someone who really, really loves Minnesota and not just because of the amazing advocates we have there. What what do we love about Minnesota, Barb?
Barb Collura:We love Minnesota because that's where I was born. That's where my my, mom still lives. My sisters live. It's where I grew up. It's where my parents grew up.
Barb Collura:So I'm a Minnesotan. And if you hang around me long enough, I might actually even say a few words in Minnesota and say, yeah, sure. So most of this most of this inter most of this podcast, I'm gonna say, yeah. Sure. Oh, yeah.
Barb Collura:Yeah. Yeah. Sure. So that's my favorite, my favorite phrase in Minnesota. But I can't wait for this episode to talk about Minnesota.
Barb Collura:And I'm it's kind of a it's kinda sad because it it doesn't have a quite a happy ending, and it makes me kinda mad. So but, Betsy, I don't wanna, like, you know, spoiler alert. Right? I should've said spoiler alert.
Betsy Campbell:Did you make a hot dish for us for afterwards?
Barb Collura:I did not. I was gonna make some homemade, rolls or sweet rolls or muffins or something, but no. From my Swedish cookbook, but no. I didn't.
Rebecca Flick:I think we also need to give a shout out to Diane, your mom.
Barb Collura:My mom. Who
Betsy Campbell:we are.
Barb Collura:Who, by the way, is is on pins and needles wanting to know every detail of everything going on in the state legislature. And, so she was she was just as mad as you, Betsy, at how things ended. Mhmm.
Rebecca Flick:So I guess we have we know we'll have one listener to this podcast, Diane.
Betsy Campbell:Hi, Diane.
Rebecca Flick:Betsy, tell our listeners, you know, how long have we been doing advocacy work with advocates in Minnesota?
Betsy Campbell:Well, interestingly, we've been working in Minnesota for years, but we started out trying to fight bad legislation. There were lawmakers and interest groups who wanted to, ban surrogacy or make it very difficult in the state. So that was several years ago and fortunately nothing bad happened. And then just, a few years ago, an IVF patient reached out to her, lawmaker to say, I just went through IVF, had to go into debt, throw a fundraiser to afford the treatment and it shouldn't be this way. And will you please introduce, insurance legislation and sure enough, it happened.
Betsy Campbell:And then she reached out to us and we got involved.
Barb Collura:It was amazing that somebody did that on her own. And I just, I mean, we her name is Mariah, and she's pretty well known, in Minnesota because because she's been so amazing and open about telling her story. But to to have the guts and just the, I don't know, the the the knowledge to be able to say, I don't know. I'm gonna go talk to my state legislator about this. Mhmm.
Barb Collura:And who knows, like, how that initial conversation actually went? I don't know if I've ever asked Mariah that. But, you know, a lot of times people just have a grievance. They have a problem. Mhmm.
Barb Collura:And they go to their legislator, and their legislator may say, hey. I feel for you, but this isn't anything I can do anything about. Like, this is not a problem that the government can solve. Believe it or not, our government can't solve every problem. But in this case, her state legislator must have said, hey.
Barb Collura:You know what? I I could actually do something that could help you. So that was pretty cool.
Rebecca Flick:Did she ever tell you that story? Do we we need to get that story
Barb Collura:from Mariah?
Betsy Campbell:I guess I don't have the details, but, you know, it just underscores what we always say. And that is your story is your superpower. You have to be an expert on anything else. You don't have to know, about, you know, state legislation and the process or anything like that. We just, you just need to share your story with your lawmaker.
Betsy Campbell:They work for you. It's their job to actually listen to you as their constituent. You really are powerful and your story is powerful. And, you know, then they can take that and come up with the necessary, legislation and then reach out to groups like Resolve, where we have model legislation that we know works in other states. And lo and behold, we have the Minnesota Building Families Act that we've been advocating for for about 3 years now.
Rebecca Flick:And so is the bill that was originally introduced the best bill that we would want, or have we made changes or asked for changes?
Betsy Campbell:Good question. So it was an okay bill, but it didn't accomplish everything that we like to see in a bill, including being inclusive of the LGBT community and giving enough attempts at pregnancy. Often the insurers like to impose their own limits. And so we wanted to make sure that what was in the bill gave patients the best chance of success and allowed doctors to actually, prescribe the right treatment to patients. So that's what our model legislation is about.
Betsy Campbell:And also in addition to covering, infertility treatment and IVF, we wanted to make sure it covered fertility preservation for those at risk of medically induced infertility, like cancer patients or patients with sickle cell anemia. So we made the bill more comprehensive and inclusive.
Barb Collura:Hey, Betsy. When when you when we reached out to the to the original lawmaker who introduced that first bill and said, hey. We have a better bill. I mean, does that like, do they are they okay with that? I mean, are legislators typically okay to take what we are saying versus what they've already drafted?
Betsy Campbell:Absolutely. I mean, they don't pretend to be experts on everything and they're looking to
Rebecca Flick:Well, some do, but,
Betsy Campbell:but also honestly, the key was we were able to hire a lobbyist who is on the ground in, St. Paul, who can, you know, talk to the bill sponsor directly on our behalf. And so that's the value of having someone on the ground, who is, you know, wandering the halls, having these conversations all the time and is able to say, Hey, my client resolve has passed similar legislation in other states and has some ideas for your bill.
Barb Collura:And, you know, you brought up a a really great point. Let these state legislators well, Rebecca, I know I know what you your comment was. I I always use the example. I always tell people, hey. I'm from Minnesota and I know that state legislators in the state of Minnesota are farmers.
Barb Collura:They're insurance agents. 1 of my mom and dad's really good friends was the local insurance agent and he was their state representative. Right? So it's it's people run for elected office and they're not all constitutional lawyers or whatever the case may be. Many are attorneys, but that's certainly not a requirement.
Barb Collura:And especially when you get into states like Minnesota, you are getting a wide range of backgrounds of people. So an organization like Resolve is of huge value to them because they're like by the way, state legislators get thousands of bills introduced in a state legislature and then they pass a lot of them, there's no way they can become experts on all of this stuff. So so that's why I think the power of the story we keep saying that, but they they that's what clues them in. They're like, they love a personal story. They love being able to help their constituents.
Barb Collura:And then being able to connect them with an organization like Resolve who has all this expertise, it's like the perfect, you know, perfect scenario for a state legislator, in my opinion.
Betsy Campbell:And you raise a good point, Barb. I mean, for most state legislators, this is a part time job. I mean, they're only in session for part of the year. So they have real day jobs outside of this. And you know, Infertility affects lawmakers too.
Betsy Campbell:And one of our bill sponsors built her family, through IVF. So, you know,
Barb Collura:you never know
Betsy Campbell:she gets it.
Rebecca Flick:I will say our our model legislation is one of the things I'm most proud of with our organization. You know, I think that's where it was a real turning point for our work where we could say, we know what we're doing. We know what works for the patient. We know what's best. And here you go.
Rebecca Flick:Let's be helpful.
Betsy Campbell:Yep. And honestly, we were really ahead of the curve. We made sure that our model legislation was inclusive of the LGBT community. And then couple of years later, the medical definition of infertility changed to include the LGBT community. So very proud of resolve.
Barb Collura:So, Betsy, we had, one of our one of the tactics we use in our state advocacy efforts is a state advocacy day.
Betsy Campbell:Mhmm.
Barb Collura:And so you and I and Ayesha, I do from our staff, the 3 of us went to Saint Paul and, it was February 14th. Valentine's Day. A little bit, a little bit cold and lustery, but we invited people from all over the state to come to Saint Paul. I think you you you had, some coffee and for them. And, and it was a lot of people who showed up.
Barb Collura:They don't they don't have to pay. They have to get to Saint Paul, but they don't have to pay to come to the day and they take all their Day off. All their importance and stuff. Tell us how why we did that on February 14th and how that helped set up the session for us.
Betsy Campbell:Well, besides wanting to spend Valentine's day with our favorite advocates, it was the 1st week of the legislative session and our bill had been introduced and we wanted to make sure lawmakers made it a priority. So we were literally in their offices, I think on the 3rd day of the session talking about our bill. It was resolve's largest state advocacy day. We had over a 100 people register, which is, huge considering it's a, a work day and people have to travel to the state Capitol, you know, the energy in the room was palpable. I mean, we made.
Betsy Campbell:Mark with our orange t shirts and, it, it was really a, Inspiring day for everybody.
Barb Collura:Yeah. We had, one of our, volunteers in Minnesota design these t shirts, these orange t shirts that have the state of Minnesota and it says pass the Minnesota Building Families Act.
Betsy Campbell:There's a little heart there for
Barb Collura:thousands of people. There. And it was so awesome to be able to walk around in all of the state office buildings and around the capitol wearing those orange t and seeing our advocates all in. So it was easy to, you know, spot somebody and and everything. But one of the things that I had I first of all, the day was amazing.
Barb Collura:It was so well organized and and everybody was really well prepared. And, you know, people told their stories, and you you were able to stick me into a couple of good meetings. But I was in a meeting with the speaker the speaker of the the house, And it was it's a woman and she had a beautiful office and the Capitol was like the Capitol dome of the Saint Paul, Minnesota state capital was behind her window. And I was I shared with her that the news, not the news, but the information that I had about the governor of Minnesota. And, she didn't know that.
Barb Collura:And He didn't
Betsy Campbell:know he was an IVF dad?
Barb Collura:Yes. She did not know that. So you just yeah. So governor Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, he is an IVF dad. He's got got 2 kids, not twins, but 2 kids, boy and a girl who, were IVF kids.
Barb Collura:He was in the US Congress. He was a representative from, the state of Minnesota here in Washington DC, and he's a veteran. And he had served on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and we had heard from a lobbyist, not somebody we were working with, but a lobbyist that worked for another company. And they said, hey, congressman Walls from Minnesota. He's an IVF dad.
Barb Collura:And we're like, oh, you're kidding. We didn't know that. We got to know him, come to hear his story. And then at one of our federal advocacy days I wish I could remember the year. 2017, 2018.
Barb Collura:I don't remember. We had him come speak. And he was a member of congress on the Veterans Affairs Committee. So and I re I don't know if you guys remember, but in that ballroom in Washington DC that morning, he stood up there and, you know, I think he was probably the first member of congress that we've ever had speak who was an IVF parent. Mhmm.
Barb Collura:And he said, I wanna start off by saying thank you. Thank you to all of you in this room for the fact that I have kids and for making this accessible to me. People were crying. I don't know if you remember that. People were really.
Barb Collura:And then about 6 months later, he announced that he was gonna run for governor of Minnesota the following year. And then, of course, he won. And now I think he's won for so Betsy, he's an IVF dad in the governor's mansion. We gotta get this we gotta get this done. How has that how has that helped or hurt us, by the way?
Betsy Campbell:It it has helped. I mean, the administration has been, supportive. They did try to get it in the budget, but it was a really tough budget year. And my understanding is we might've been just on the cusp, but literally people in the governor's office reached out to our advocates like Mariah, to our lobbyists, to to really say how sorry they were. They couldn't get it in the budget, but you better believe we're back at it now asking to be put into, next year's budget.
Rebecca Flick:So I think there's some some storytelling missing in between amazing advocacy day and didn't get in the budget. So tell us a little bit. It sounds like advocacy day was like the high. Right? We started the legislative season with an amazing show of our advocates and showing their strength.
Rebecca Flick:And then what happens after that advocacy day is over? Like, what are we doing in the office? What are our advocates doing on the ground?
Betsy Campbell:Well, first, I have to say we also had a press conference that day and the coverage we appeared at all the major media. Barb was on Julie Berman, who's a former board member of resolve and a Minnesotan and who pretty much leads the Minnesota Building Families Coalition along with advocates like Mariah. So, it was wall to wall coverage in the and, you know, on the major networks, PBS, the star Tribune.
Barb Collura:All of my friends were like, Barb, I was driving to work. Heard you. Barb, I got home from work. Saw you. Barb, I'm on the watching the nightly news.
Barb Collura:Well You guys are on again. It was Were you on Crazy.
Rebecca Flick:Were you on Carol Levin?
Barb Collura:I wasn't Carol Levin. Carol it's not Carol Levin. It's Carol Levin. We were on Carol Levin. We were on every news station in the twin cities in many and it was like it was and NPR.
Rebecca Flick:That's, like, another ingredient, right, for what we think is success. We've got our advocates telling their stories. We have a supportive legislator. We have amazing media coverage. Lobbyist.
Rebecca Flick:Lobbyist. All of the ingredients are there to make the perfect hot dish. And then what what happens?
Barb Collura:Well,
Betsy Campbell:politics sort of gets thrown into politics. The sausage. You know
Barb Collura:This is why people put mandarin oranges in their hot dish, And this is not a good ingredient to put in.
Betsy Campbell:The legislative climate became really tough. And we all know that family building and IVF insurance, this is not a partisan issue. It's nonpartisan and certainly bipartisan. But it was a tough legislative climate. And towards the end, when our lawmaker had found a path for us at the very end, because often, you know, things happen in committees and maybe you don't get passed in a committee, but they find other ways either to add you to the budget or to other bills.
Betsy Campbell:And we had a vehicle identified that we thought we could actually pass something. And the clock literally ran out, because of just some political shenanigans, filibustering at the end of the session. And it was really heartbreaking. You know, we could taste it.
Barb Collura:But the thing that really upset me, Betsy, was that the house health committee in Minnesota, the state legislature, that, that committee has not heard our bill now for 2 years. And the senate has done their job, and, it went through committee. It went through regular order. It passed out of the senate health committee. But when it went over to the house, it has to go through a couple of committees.
Barb Collura:This year, we got through the first one, and we were all super happy. And then it just never got Yeah. Past that health committee. And the agenda for those committee hearings is controlled by the chair of of any committee. And it's just been really, really, really tough to get through that committee.
Barb Collura:Yeah. And so we have to find other creative ways. We'd love to be able to go through the committee. We have people ready to testify and and ready to go. But, if they don't put us on the agenda, then our bill sponsors have to get creative and find other ways to get the bill through.
Betsy Campbell:Yeah. That's, what's really frustrating. You have a piece of legislation that, you know, if the entire legislature voted on it, it would pass. And yet you have these gatekeepers and committees and they have a lot of power. And honestly, you know, if they're priorities on our line, it just makes it really, really tough.
Betsy Campbell:And so every year we come back and we try to chip away and, and, you know, make the case. And hopefully, the committee structure will change soon.
Barb Collura:You know, here's the other thing that happened in Minnesota that made me so mad. It was like Goldilocks. It was
Betsy Campbell:like the
Barb Collura:bill I mean, part of what happens, as well in state legislation is you negotiate. Like, we always start with our model legislation which has everything. Well, in Minnesota, they even added coverage. You know? They wanted it to be covered it for Medicaid and it's got a different name in Minnesota.
Barb Collura:But basically to have coverage for everyone and of course that was amazing. It it adds cost to the bill. And so they had to get a cost study done and we had to wait for that. And then so the the Goldilocks part of this is they wanted everything. And then when it got push came to shove to get the bill through, they were like, oh, it's gonna cost too much.
Barb Collura:So then Betsy and our lobbyist and our advocates were like, okay. Then scale it back. Get something done. We are we are pragmatists at resolve. We believe in incrementalism.
Barb Collura:Some organizations don't. But our strategy has always been, let's be pragmatic. Let's try and get something done. And, Betsy has many stories where states have come back and added coverage. Right?
Barb Collura:So but you gotta get you gotta start somewhere. Well, then they were like, no. It we we wanted to cover everybody. And we're like, well, you just told us it was too much money. Why don't you scale it back?
Barb Collura:It was like, it's too hard. It's too soft. It's too big. It's too small. It was really I I could like, I wanted to pull my hair out.
Betsy Campbell:Yeah. Am I allowed to say it was sort of like damned if we do damned if we don't, you know? Sounds like it. Yeah. We're already we had a call just a day before yesterday with our bill champion in the Senate starting to strategize already.
Betsy Campbell:So what we're in July, the bill will be introduced in January. We're already back in the saddle trying to ensure that we pass this bill in 2025.
Rebecca Flick:Well, I know our advocates are ready and fired up, and it was awesome to meet some of them at our DC, senate vote a couple months or last month, and they're ready. And it was great
Barb Collura:to see you. One of the things that's so cool about Minnesota too, besides the fact that I love the state, is that on our advocacy efforts, I mean
Rebecca Flick:And Prince is from Minnesota.
Barb Collura:Is that, Betsy and our team have put together, an an, a coalition in Minnesota that's super cool. Betsy, tell us about the coalition. I mean, first of all, I'll tell you one important ingredient of that coalition. It's fertility doctors. It's the practices and the clinics in the state.
Barb Collura:And at the press conference, we had one of the docs from Minnesota, one of the physicians, reproductive endocrinologist in Minnesota. She spoke at the press conference. We have them advocating. And, they're wearing their white coats and they're marching the halls just like us. And it's so amazing to advocate alongside them.
Barb Collura:And I just wanna thank every person. It's not just the docs. We get the nurses. We get the front office staff. We've had, just I was in a meeting with it was like she was like the nurse manager for one of the clinics and, you know, they had 4 or 5 of their staff there that day on February 14th.
Barb Collura:So it was amazing. But tell us who else makes up that coalition.
Betsy Campbell:So we always do we want our voices to be loud as possible, and we do that by marrying the patient voice and the professional voice. But we also have over 30 organizations who are part of our Minnesota Building Families Coalition. We have groups that represent cancer. We have groups that represent different religious organizations. We've got unions, you name it.
Betsy Campbell:I mean, we've got the LGBT community. So we have a very broad, diverse coalition of organizations who are mobilizing their constituents in support of this legislation.
Barb Collura:So Yeah. My mom, again, my mom, Diane, who's 94. She, is very politically active and interested, and she had a newsletter from one of the groups that she supports, when I was there. And our advocacy day was in that organization's newsletter for, like, what's happening and how to get involved. It was so cool.
Barb Collura:I I just was so excited. I think I even took a picture of it and send it to Betsy, because I was like, oh my god. It was a totally different group and they're promoting our advocacy day. But I'll tell you, Leukemia Lymphoma Society, which is a huge organization in the cancer community, they are they are just a giant. And their, their state group in Minnesota, this is a top priority for them in the state legislature is getting our bill through.
Barb Collura:And it's they've been fantastic to work with and they've testified and yeah, they've been great.
Betsy Campbell:Yep. We have biweekly calls and the screen is full of boxes with representatives from, different organizations alongside our our advocates and, you know, the health care providers. So, it it it really is a sight to behold, and everyone's fired up. And even though, you know, our legislation, didn't pass, I mean, literally the next day, there were trying to figure out how to get going for next year.
Barb Collura:She knows. I I thought that keep going. When you told me the news, I thought, oh my gosh. Poor Mariah. She's gonna be devastated.
Barb Collura:And then you sent me a screenshot of, like, her post or whatever. And it was, like, the most positive, uplifting. We'll be back next year. And I was like, oh my god.
Betsy Campbell:Literally, Mariah met with the Teamsters Union this week. I mean, she's all over it.
Rebecca Flick:Awesome. Well, we definitely want her to listen in on this.
Betsy Campbell:Lots of
Barb Collura:shout outs to
Betsy Campbell:Mariah. Her ears are ringing.
Rebecca Flick:Yeah. That's awesome. Thanks for sharing, Betsy.
Betsy Campbell:You know, it's a roller coaster ride, but I wouldn't wanna be on it with anybody else. And this is an awesome community.
Barb Collura:Well, let's let's close with our get smarter. So we have a a phrase at Resolve, we reserve the right to get smarter. And it can be used in a number of ways. But on this podcast, we're gonna use it to kind of close out our our, episode. And so we're gonna gonna put Betsy on the spot since she was on vacation last time.
Barb Collura:She didn't get to share. But Betsy, you can share something personal, something professional, but, tell us, what you'd like to share about, how you got smarter.
Betsy Campbell:Oh, gosh. I don't know if I got smarter or just more realistic, but, earlier this week, my youngest daughter turned, 21. And so, you know, I'd like to think that she had her first drink with me on Monday, but, I don't think that's the case. And according to my older kids, I definitely was a much more lenient parent, with, with the youngest, but,
Rebecca Flick:it's not getting smarter or just really tired.
Betsy Campbell:I know actually probably it's probably just, yeah. Yep. Getting tired, but also maybe more realistic, but, you know what, everyone's doing fine.
Barb Collura:There you go.
Rebecca Flick:Kids are alright. The kids are alright. Awesome. Well, thanks everybody for listening. We'll be back with episode number 3 soon so make sure you subscribe to infertility discourse wherever you're listening to this podcast.
Rebecca Flick:Follow resolve org on social media. We are on Facebook, Instagram, x, TikTok. We are on TikTok. And of course, LinkedIn. And if you wanna head to our website, if you're fired up to take action, wanna get involved, make a donation so we can be present in Minnesota and many more states next session, go to resolve.org to learn more.
Rebecca Flick:So thanks, everybody.
Barb Collura:And I just wanna say I will be at the Minnesota State Fair in August. That's awesome. Is a very, very big deal in Minnesota. And my understanding is the, advocates in Minnesota have a have a little to do list of things to do when you're at the state fair because a lot of the elected officials are there. Oh.
Barb Collura:So I need to check-in with Julie and Mariah to get my assignments of what I should be doing at the state fair and who might who might be there. Okay. We have lots
Betsy Campbell:of handouts for you, Barb.
Rebecca Flick:Lots of pictures of this.
Barb Collura:All the fried food. Mini donuts. I'm not even gonna tell you how many mini donuts I'm gonna eat because they're they're little small mini donuts that are hot that are my favorite, favorite, favorite thing at the Minnesota State Fair. But, I also just wanna say that, when you go to resolve.org, up in the top right hand corner, there's a little button that says donate. We hope you click on that and choose to donate every month.
Barb Collura:I I like to use the analogy of how much you pay for your Starbucks drink or your Dunkin' Donuts drink and make that the amount you you wanna donate to resolve each month. Or if you're going to the Minnesota State Fair, how much would you pay for that bag of nice hot dozen mini donuts? But we greatly appreciate your support, and and it really makes a huge difference in our ability to hire lobbyists and host advocacy days and do all the work that Betsy shared. Thank you.