SPOTLIGHT: Fertility Benefits
Spotlight on fertility benefits
Brought to you by the Need to Know Briefing
Infertility impacts a significant percentage of the workforce:
One in eight women of childbearing age has “difficulty conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to term,” according to the CDC.
Many of those undergoing fertility treatment consider quitting their jobs:
38% of people going through fertility treatment “consider quitting their jobs,” according to Fertifa.
Offering fertility benefits could improve retention:
The top reasons cited by employers for covering infertility treatment include are to “ensure employees have access to quality, cost-effective care,” “stay competitive to recruit and retain top talent,” and “be recognized as a “family friendly” employer”,” according to Mercer.
53% of employees experiencing fertility issues say they’d be more likely to stay at their company if the employer funded fertility treatment, according to a study by Brabners.
“We are seeing dramatic and startling expansion. I don’t think any of us could have foreseen the generosity of coverage being extended to normal employers.”
The number of employers offering fertility benefits has increased significantly in recent years:
40% of employers are offering fertility benefits, up from 30% in 2020, according to a study published earlier this year by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
In 2022, 43% of large employers (500 or more employees) offered health plans that covered IVF treatment, up from 36% in 2021, according to Mercer. (54% of employers with 20,000 or more employees offered IVF coverage in 2022, and 24% offered coverage for egg freezing.)
The number of large employers either “offering or enhancing their family-building benefit” increased by 8% year-over-year in 2021, according to FertilityIQ.
Of companies that don't cover IVF, almost 20% say they are “likely to add this coverage in the next two years,” according to Mercer.
Employers that offer fertility benefits say doing so has not significantly increased costs:
In 2021, 97% of employers surveyed said that “offering fertility benefits hadn’t resulted in a significant increase in medical plan costs,” according to Mercer.
Read more via Mercer, FertilityIQ, CNBC, CDC, Fertifa, Mercer, Axios, Associated Press, BenefitsPro
Employers offering coverage for fertility-related benefits is not new. “Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s,” a small percentage of employers have covered fertility services. But over the past few years, there has been “notable growth in coverage for IVF and other fertility services," according to Mercer and other experts and organizations. Employers are offering fertility benefits in greater proportion for a variety of reasons, including the "need to stay competitive to recruit and retain top talent; greater emphasis on inclusivity; the desire to be recognized as a family friendly employer; and stricter quality guidelines for treatment.”
Larger employers have been the “trendsetters” as far as offering fertility benefits coverage goes, and experts say larger companies are "likely the leading edge of a broader movement.”
Examples of company's currently offering fertility benefits coverage:
Amazon: Amazon announced August 8 the company is offering “extended access to its virtual support program for fertility and family-building benefits” to all Amazon employees across 50 countries, including hourly workers. Amazon workers in the U.S. have had access to the benefits since 2019. Amazon offers fertility benefits through a partnership with Maven Clinic. Employees can “access free virtual appointments with OB-GYNs, reproductive endocrinologists, coaches and other providers who can guide workers through fertility and family-building options, such as egg freezing, in vitro fertilization, adoption and surrogacy.” (Amazon, CNBC)
Chevron: In January 2023, Chevron announced an expansion of its fertility-related benefits coverage. Chevron partners with WIN Fertility to offer fertility benefits. (Chevron)
Facebook (Meta): Facebook offers “$100,000 for four cycles of IVF (pending proof of eligibility for fertility treatment) and preimplantation genetic screening, and $20,000 for surrogacy benefits.” (Inhersight)
Goldman Sachs: In late 2019, Goldman announced a new policy to “give employees trying to start a family up to $20,000 for fertility treatments.” The policy applies to workers in all offices globally. (Financial News)
Google: Google offers “multiple bundles of fertility treatments (including elective egg freezing), fertility consultations, and access to high quality providers.” (Google via Levels.FYI)
JP Morgan: JP Morgan began offering fertility benefits in 2019, including financial support to “help offset the high cost of adoption, surrogacy, and certain fertility treatments.” (JP Morgan)
Starbucks: Starbucks “provides workers up to $40,000 in fertility benefits, as well as health insurance, after five months on the job, working 20 hours a week.” (Wall Street Journal)
Tesla: All Tesla employees can “access fertility services including IVF, IUI, and egg or sperm freezing services and get financial assistance from the company when doing so.” Tesla also offers “support for the legal fees associated with adoption and surrogacy.” (Fertifa)
Tractor Supply: The retailer offers “reproductive health, family building, fertility and pregnancy, as well as parenting resources” through Ovia and Progyny. Benefits are available to “all team members and spouses.” Newly hired workers hired or rehired on or after June 1, 2023, must complete one year of service before Progyny benefits are effective. (Tractor Supply’s fertility benefits had previously kicked in after just 30 days.) (Tractor Supply)
Walmart: In September 2022, Walmart announced fertility benefits coverage in partnership with Kindbody. The benefits include “fertility assessments and education, fertility preservation, genetic testing, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI).” (Walmart)
Read more via Mercer's National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans
Americans are taking on ‘side hustles’ to obtain access to fertility benefits:
Some highly compensated workers have had access to fertility benefits for years, but a growing number of employers are offering fertility benefits to “lower-paid, hourly and even part-time employees—such as cashiers, warehouse workers and baristas.” Offering fertility benefits is allowing employers to have an extra “edge” in recruiting – and retaining – workers.
The Wall Street Journal interviewed a 37-year-old software developer, who, after finding out she would need fertility treatments to “have a shot at motherhood,” decided to take on a second job. Courtney Lorenz wasn’t taking on more work for the money, but instead for the benefits. And that is why a software developer found herself working “10 hours a week over six months as a cashier” at Tractor Supply, earning $16 an hour, along with “insurance that paid for four rounds of egg retrieval, a procedure that wasn’t covered by her primary health insurance.”
“It was a little surreal sometimes, to come off an intense project meeting with executives and head off to Tractor Supply and listen to country music and fold jeans.”
Read more via Wall Street Journal
