Trump admin takes aim at cost of IVF with new coverage guidance

The Trump administration is making a new push to expand access to fertility benefits, aligning with a key promise made on the campaign trail.

The departments of Labor, the Treasury and Health and Human Services issued new guidance Thursday afternoon that paves the way for employers to offer supplemental benefits for fertility services, including in vitro fertilization (IVF). While employers are not required to do so, the guidance will allow them to opt into these benefits, which would behave similarly to dental, vision and life insurance policies.

Heidi Overton, M.D., deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said during an event that the program would make it easier for smaller employers to offer benefits packages that are competitive with larger firms, as many workers expect or want access to fertility and family planning benefits. Many of these smaller employers, at present, cannot afford such additional offerings.

“It will be a coordinated package that does not exist in traditional health insurance today,” Overton said.

She said the guidance will also make it easier for employers to provide coverage that drills down to the root causes of infertility, such as obesity and other chronic conditions, and encourages them to identify and work with providers that offer the highest quality. In addition, it allows employers to design benefits that are “consistent with their values.”

“It puts them in the driver’s seat,” Overton said. “We want employers to be the ones that can make those decisions, and not the government.”

Overton added that access to fertility care providers drives higher live birth rates, reduces the number of cycles necessary for a successful IVF implantation and lowers the risk of a miscarriage. Having these benefits in place also smooths out the provider and patient experience, as it eases the administrative red tape.

Expanding access to IVF and fertility services was a cornerstone campaign promise for Trump, and, in February, he issued an executive order that signaled a push to aggressively lower the cost associated with the treatments.

Alongside the updates for coverage, Trump revealed that the administration had signed a deal with drugmaker EMD Serono to significantly lower the price of its fertility therapy, Gonal-F. Under the deal, EMD Serono, the world’s largest fertility drug maker, will list its medications on the administration’s direct-to-consumer platform, TrumpRx. Further, the Food and Drug Administration will work to expedite approval of its IVF drug pergoveris, which is currently available in Europe.

The president said the pharmaceutical company will also list all of its future products at most-favored nation prices. He said that between the cost for the therapy and lack of coverage, many families who want IVF or fertility services are forced to pay large sums out of pocket.

“We want to make it easier for all couples to have babies, raise children and start the families they’ve always dreamed about,” Trump said.