In a tight labor market, employers expand reproductive health benefits

A growing number of employers are expanding their health coverage to include in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, and other sometimes expensive maternity services as awareness of women’s health increases.

Why is it important? An estimated 1.1 million women lost their jobs during the pandemic, accounting for more than 63 percent of all jobs lost. Harvard Business Review. and Roe v. Wade flipped the math to get job-based reproductive health coverage.

driving news; WalmartThe largest private employer in the US recently announced that it will expand family planning benefits — including coverage for IVF, surrogacy and adoption — to its employees.

• “This is a catalyst for the democratization of care,” said Anbeth Eschbach, CEO of Kindbody, a family-building benefits company that Walmart has partnered with. “Fertility benefits include medical, dental, vision, as criteria.”

Minimize: Amazon, the nation’s second-largest employer, is offering fertility benefits to all U.S. non-seasonal part-time and full-time workers starting in 2019 through a partnership with Progeny, a maternity benefits provider, a company spokeswoman said.

What they say: The moves suggest that “family-building benefits or reproductive health benefits are not limited to white-collar firms,” ​​said Jean Abraham, a health economist at the University of Minnesota.

The big picture: After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Walmart, Disney, Meta, and many others Other large employers They said they will help workers in states where abortion is restricted to access reproductive health options, including paying for travel expenses.

• The focus on reproductive health is prompting employers to consider offering fertility and family-planning benefits, some of which were once considered too expensive, said Julie Campbell, general counsel of Mercer’s general health management practice.
• Coverage options are also expanding to include pre-conception counseling, egg-freezing, menopause and postpartum care.

The design of benefits is still evolving. UnitedHealthcare chief development officer Brandon Cuevas told Axios Tina Reed, “It’s increasingly the case that companies are evaluating that as a gift. We’re seeing more and more of our customers talking about that and companies stepping up and offering a solution.”

• As employers in some cases partner with benefits providers like Maven and Progyny, UHC provides some back-end analytics to help them better understand their return on investment.

Game Mode: Industry experts say companies know that offering these types of benefits improves employee retention and attracts new talent.

• Roger Shedlin, CEO of WINFertility, said fertility benefits companies are able to recruit and retain.

• Mercer Campbell’s family-planning expansion will help recruit and retain employees, and support LGBTQ couples with fertility treatment and other services to start a family.
• Companies want to give all their employees the same opportunities to create the families they want, Campbell said.

Between the lines; Support for family-planning benefits remains high.

• According to the Barclays 2021 Healthcare Disruption Series on the FemTech Industry, 59% of employers say maternity coverage is important to compete in the job market.
• 68% of adults would change jobs for better maternity benefits, according to data from Barclays.

In numbers: Adding family-planning benefits would account for a 1.3%-6% increase in annual medical costs for companies with 30,000 or more employees, according to Mercer estimates provided to Axios.

• Present: Progeny CEO Pete Anevsky told Axios that among the company’s clients, family planning benefits represent 1%-3% of their total medical expenses.

don’t forget: The costs of maternity benefits vary.

• Benefits consultants consider a company’s demographics — number of employees, age range, gender distribution — to determine which offerings are best suited.

What we are looking at: Among them, employers are increasingly focusing on making pregnancy safe for women. Risk of increased maternal mortality.

• About 85% of large employers will implement at least one strategy, such as expanding maternity benefits, offering prenatal care or providing coverage for postpartum depression, in the next year, according to a Business Group Health survey of large employers.