BILL NUMBER:  AB 912
  VETOED	DATE: 10/05/2013




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 912 without my signature.

The bill requires health plans and insurers to cover fertility
preservation services when a medical treatment may cause infertility.
  This requirement would apply only to health coverage purchased by
large employers.

Large group employers already have the ability to negotiate richer
benefit packages that meet the needs of their employees. While I
understand the desire to preserve fertility where possible, such
coverage was not included in the essential health benefits that the
Legislature passed just last year for individual and small group
coverage.

Coverage that goes beyond the essential health benefits is no doubt
useful and desirable for many, but we should not consider mandating
additional benefits until we implement the comprehensive package of
reforms that are required by the federal Affordable Care Act.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.