US urges employers to add fertility benefits for staff

The Trump administration is urging US employers to expand fertility benefits, including coverage for IVF and infertility treatments, officials said Thursday.

Donald Trump also announced from the Oval Office that his administration had reached an agreement with EMD Serono, a pharmaceutical company, to reduce the price of one of its reproductive medications and offer it on the government website TrumpRx.

Trump claimed that these actions will result in "many more beautiful American children."

“In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for all couple to have babies, raise children and have the families they’ve always dreamed about,”

Trump said.

Similar to how dental and vision care are typically provided to employees, employers are encouraged to offer the fertility benefit option independently from their medical coverage. Guidelines on how businesses might lawfully create the choice will also be released by the labor, treasury, and health departments on Thursday.

Speaking during Trump's announcement, Republicans, however, presented the benefit as a "recommendation," meaning that employers will not be compelled to provide the coverage or be eligible for government funding for doing so. Additionally, they emphasized that the benefit will be set up to provide employers a great deal of discretion over what is and is not covered.

It's uncertain how many employers will eventually support IVF coverage if there are no new incentives to do so.

Trump, who has referred to himself as the "fertilization president," has made endorsing infertility treatments a key component of his reelection campaign, particularly after the Alabama Supreme Court's decision to declare embryos "extrauterine children" caused a national uproar. due to the possibility that IVF will result in the production of unwanted or rejected embryos.

However, the Trump administration has not spoken out on the matter in the months since becoming office. He issued an executive order in February instructing the administration's domestic policy council to explore ways to "aggressively" lower the cost of IVF, which is typically not covered by insurance and can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

By May, a comprehensive report on the recommendations was expected to be released. There was never a report.

Even though IVF is very popular in America, it has become somewhat of a political minefield among elected Republicans due to the GOP's strong ties to the anti-abortion movement. Because proponents consider embryos to be human beings, the movement has traditionally opposed IVF.

The prospect of promoting restorative reproductive medicine (RRM), a collection of treatments that aim to restore people's "natural" fertility, has been addressed by White House officials in recent months.

RRM is well-liked by opponents of abortion and supporters of the "make America healthy again" movement, but according to a number of significant medical organizations, there isn't enough solid proof that it works better than conventional fertility treatment in assisting women in becoming pregnant.

Trump did not mention RRM in his Thursday address. When a reporter asked if he had any thoughts on anti-abortion activists’ opposition to IVF, Trump said:

“I think this is very pro-life.”

The press conference that followed Trump's speech was dominated by pronatalist language, which maintains that having children is crucial to a nation's well-being and that the government should encourage people to have children. The declining birthrate in the United States was emphasized by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.

People who want more children but can’t have them, Oz added, are “under-babied”.

“There’s gonna be a lot of Trump babies,”

Oz said.

“It turns out the fundamental creative force in society is about making babies.”

How will employer-offered fertility benefits be regulated under the new guidance?

Providing fertility benefits such as coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other infertility treatments are really useful to be included as an optional add-on package, such as dental and vision insurance, so that employees can participate voluntarily. Employers will not have to participate. 

Employers fully control their benefits package, including which treatments to cover (i.e., IVF, intrauterine insemination, fertility medications, diagnostic testing), and how much to cover, and are able to modify these benefits to meet the needs of their workforce. 

Health insurance plans will be subject to the current health insurance regulations that prohibit discrimination and provide important coverage information, cost-share, and eligibility.