GOP senators disagree on Trump's IVF insurance mandate proposal

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., offered divergent takes on former President Donald Trump's in vitro fertilization proposal. Trump said Thursday his administration would protect IVF access.

Trump said his administration would provide government subsidies or mandate private health insurance coverage of IVF if elected.

"We are going to be — under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment," Trump said in an NBC News interview.

Graham said Sunday on ABC News’ This Week that he would not support mandating private health insurance coverage for the procedure, The Hill reported. Graham instead proposed a tax credit for people undergoing the procedure.

"We have tax credits for people who have children. Maybe we should have a means-tested tax credit for people using IVF and other treatments to become pregnant," Graham said.

Cotton, however, said he was "open" to Trump's proposal, The Hill reported.

"Well, all Republicans, to my knowledge, support IVF, in the Congress. And there’s no state that prohibits or regulates IVF in a way that makes it inaccessible," Cotton said on NBC News’ Meet the Press.

Cotton cautioned that the fiscal impact would need to be assessed first to determine "whether the taxpayer can afford to pay for this" and "what impact it would have on premiums."