If you are a business owner, you already know you have a responsibility to help your employees stay healthy by providing them with health insurance. In addition, U.S. businesses with one or more employees must provide workers’ compensation coverage. Some employers offer health perks like gym membership or at-work support groups for weight loss or smoking cessation. One area of health-related benefit experiencing an increased focus today is fertility benefits.
Fertility Treatment Coverage
Families who are challenged by fertility issues will sometimes seek medical solutions to their inability to conceive a child. However, the costs for most fertility options can be much too high for many to afford. Because of this problem, many employers have begun to look for health insurance benefits that offer coverage – or discounts – for fertility treatments. Employers may also provide stipends or other monetary assistance for those employees who pay out of pocket for fertility treatments.
Reasons Employers Offer Fertility Benefits
Employers have cited several motivations for making an effort to help their employees who want fertility treatments. The most common of those reasons is to increase employee morale. Employees troubled by their inability to conceive a child are less motivated to do their best at work. When employers help employees overcome their fertility barriers, those employers can give their best efforts to their jobs.
Shopping for Health Insurance
When employers become motivated to provide fertility options for their employees, they often search for available policies with those options. When searching, managers must be sure those policies cover single parents, as well as the inclusion of those with an LGBT lifestyle. When choosing a policy, managers should learn about monetary limits, copays, and dollar limits for coverage. According to Monster Hiring, some specialized providers (such as Carrot and Progeny) also offer additional assistance – like dedicated fertility case managers.
Options for Fertility Treatment
Fertility options include the use of hormonal injections to help prospective mothers to conceive. People who want to preserve their parenting options for a later time may seek the option to freeze their sperm or egg cells. There may also be coverage for employees participating in the surrogacy process. Finally, despite not being covered by a healthcare policy, employers may also search for programs to assist clients who want to adopt a child.
IVF – In Vitro Fertilization
This procedure takes ovaries and sperm cells (from donors or one of the prospective parents) and places them in a lab for fertilization. Once the cells are joined, the resulting embryo is implanted in the prospective mother’s uterus. It may interest you to learn that, according to Elevate Baby, anyone donating egg cells must be between 19 and 29. However, some IVF programs accept donors up to age 31.
Alternates to Insurance for Fertility Treatments
If their company’s health insurance options don’t provide adequate coverage for fertility benefits, some employers may offer HRA (health reimbursement account) programs. These programs will give a monthly amount the employee can use specifically for healthcare expenses. After the employee spends that money, the company will pay them back. Other companies may provide stipends for those expenses – which are payments directly made to the employees by the employee for fertility programs that they choose.Human Resources or Employee Benefits managers should research their options for helping employees pay for IVF. If companies are highly motivated to provide those benefits, they will be
more likely to invest in these programs for their employees. After all, according to High Rock Studios, motivated potential customers typically spend 75% more on services they see advertised online. By empathizing with their employees who seek fertility treatments, they are more likely to invest in insurance options to help them find fertility solutions.