Does Sharp Health Plan cover IVF?
What Sharp Health Plan (San Diego) publishes about covering IVF and other fertility treatment, in its own words, with the document each statement is in.
- Documents read · checked 21 h ago
It depends on your plan type. Sharp Health Plan's large group (and grandfathered small group) handbook, amended January 1, 2026 for California's SB 729, covers infertility services including IVF, IUI, embryo genetic testing and fertility drugs, with up to three completed egg retrievals and unlimited embryo transfers. Its 2027 small group plans cover IVF only if the employer's plan includes it, and its 2027 individual and family plans do not cover infertility services or IVF.
What Sharp Health Plan's handbooks say
Read on Oct 26, 2026. The words in quotation marks are the source's own.
Large group plans: yes, 3 egg retrievals; individual plans: no
“Infertility services, including treatment of the Member’s infertility condition and conception by artificial means, are covered.”
“If your benefit plan does not include coverage for Infertility Services, Artificial Insemination and Assisted Reproductive Technologies, you do not have coverage under this section.”
Large group plans: what is covered
If you meet the definition of infertility: IVF, IUI, embryo genetic testing, medication to treat infertility and induce ovulation, donor sperm, eggs and embryos, up to three completed egg retrievals, unlimited embryo transfers under ASRM guidelines, and freezing and storage for at least five years.
“If you meet the definition of infertility, the following are Covered Benefits:”
“q. In vitro fertilization”
“Maximum of three completed oocyte retrievals (eggs)”
“w. Unlimited embryo transfers in accordance with the guidelines of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), using single embryo transfer when recommended and medically appropriate”
“o. Preimplantation genetic testing”
“f. Medication to treat infertility”
“x. Cryopreservation and storage of sperm, oocytes, and embryos for a period of at least five years from the time the genetic material is first cryopreserved”
Who qualifies
Including a person unable to reproduce alone or with a partner without medical help; using a donor, gestational carrier or surrogate does not take away the benefit, nor does a prior sterilization.
“A person’s inability to reproduce either as an individual or with their partner without medical intervention.”
“Members who meet the definition of infertility provided below will not be denied covered fertility and infertility benefits if they use an oocyte, sperm, or embryo donor, a gestational carrier, or a surrogate that enables the Member to become a parent.”
“The Plan shall not deny coverage for medically necessary treatments of infertility or fertility services based solely upon a Member’s prior diagnosis of infertility or a Member’s prior elective sterilization.”
Small group plans (2027)
Covered only if your benefit plan includes infertility services, artificial insemination and assisted reproduction; otherwise there is no coverage under that section.
“If your benefit plan includes coverage for Infertility Services, Artificial Insemination, and Assisted Reproductive Technologies, the following are Covered Benefits if you meet the definition of Infertility.”
Individual and family plans (2027)
Infertility services, diagnosis and treatment included, and assisted reproduction such as insemination and IVF are listed as not covered.
“The following services are not Covered Benefits:”
“Infertility services, including diagnosis and treatment of the Member’s underlying infertility condition.”
“to artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization”
California's SB 729
Sharp's provider alert says SB 729 was delayed from July 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026, and that the regulator's guidance covers fertility services for all large groups and for small groups that choose to offer them.
“SB 729 originally carried an effective date of July 1, 2025, which was later delayed to January 1, 2026, pursuant to Assembly Bill 116.”
“The revised APL 25‑021 clarifies coverage requirements for fertility services, for all large groups, and for small groups that choose to offer this coverage through health plans in California.”
Not covered
Reversing a voluntary sterilization, except medical complications.
“This Plan does not cover reversal of voluntary sterilization, except for Medically Necessary treatment of medical complications, except as required by law.”
Whether your Sharp Health Plan plan covers IVF
The Sharp Health Plan policy says how it pays for IVF when a plan includes it. Three things decide whether yours does.
- 1.Your employer's choice
Most people with Sharp Health Plan coverage get it through work, and the employer picks the benefits. About 50% of employers with 500 or more workers now cover IVF.
- 2.Your plan type
A fully-insured plan follows the law of the state it is issued in. A self-funded plan, which 67% of covered US workers have, does not: it covers whatever the employer chose.
- 3.Your state's law
Some states require fully-insured plans to cover IVF, some require insurers only to offer it, and most require nothing. Your state's line is below.
What specific employers publish about their fertility benefits, including which insurer or benefit company runs them: companies that cover IVF.
Does Sharp Health Plan cover IVF in California?
California's insurance law applied to a Sharp Health Plan plan issued there. A state law reaches plans issued in that state, usually your employer's state, not where the clinic is.
Sharp Health Plan in California
Often, on fully-insured plans: California requires some fully-insured health plans to cover IVF, and that includes Sharp Health Plan plans issued in California unless one of the law's limits or exemptions applies. New for 2026: SB 729 requires large-group fully-insured plans to cover IVF. California law and clinics
State laws as summarized by RESOLVE Insurance Coverage by State, read Oct 1, 2026.
How to see what your Sharp Health Plan plan covers
A policy or program page is a summary. Your own plan's documents are what it pays by.
- 1Read your Sharp member handbook (Combined Evidence of Coverage) and its amendments for infertility services.
- 2On a small group plan, ask your employer whether its plan includes infertility and assisted reproduction coverage.
- 3If you have trouble getting infertility treatment, call the number on your ID card, or ask the California DMHC Help Center (1-888-466-2219) for help, as the handbook says.
Sharp Health Plan and IVF: common questions
Does Sharp Health Plan cover IVF?
On its large group plans, yes: since January 1, 2026, under California's SB 729, with up to three completed egg retrievals and unlimited embryo transfers. Small group plans cover it only if the employer's plan includes it, and individual and family plans do not.
Does Sharp Health Plan cover egg freezing?
On large group plans, freezing and storage of sperm, eggs and embryos for at least five years is a covered benefit for members who meet the definition of infertility.
Does Sharp cover IVF with a donor or surrogate?
On large group plans, members who meet the definition of infertility are not denied benefits because they use a donor, gestational carrier or surrogate, and donor sperm, eggs and embryos are listed as covered.
- 2026 Member Handbook, Large Group and Grandfathered Small Group HMO: Amendment #2 (Combined Evidence of Coverage and Disclosure Form) (Sharp Health Plan, Amendment #2 effective January 1, 2026)
- 2027 Member Handbook for Small Groups (HMO) (Sharp Health Plan, Plan year 2027)
- 2027 Member Handbook for Individual & Family Plans (Covered California and Off-Exchange) (Sharp Health Plan, Plan year 2027)
- Provider Alert: All Plan Letter 25-021, Implementation of Senate Bill 729 (2024), REVISED (2.23.26) (Sharp Health Plan, Date: March 20, 2026)