American Society for Reproductive Medicine: Your Employer, Not State, is More Likely to Determine Insurance Coverage to Infertility Care

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 -- The American Society for Reproductive Medicine issued the following news release:

Currently, 17 of 50 US states have infertility care insurance mandates, which are assumed to increase accessibility of those services, but according to research presented at the 2020 Scientific Congress, employers determine the applicability of state mandates.

Researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa, performed 66 interviews with women and men ages 18-45. The selection of these interview questions reflect the hypothesis that residence, employer, and presence and type of health insurance affect the decisions people make regarding when, how, and to what extent they access infertility services.

Results from women and men in 33 states suggest it is the employer that influences access to any infertility health insurance more than the individual's residence in a state with mandated infertility health insurance. The majority of study participants were currently using infertility services (51.52%), female (92.42%), and a mean age of 32.7 (4.09). Primary causes of infertility were unexplained (27.3%) and female factor (25.8%), and the majority of people had private health insurance individually or through their employer (87.9%).

"Although state insurance mandates exist to support coverage to fertility care, the unfortunate reality is that your employer, not your state, may determine your access to affordable fertility care. While some employers laudably embrace the opportunity to support their employees' family building dreams, others take advantage of Federal loopholes and create hurdles instead of bridges to care. We can, and must, do better. Passing a federal infertility insurance mandate is key to ensuring equitable access to affordable fertility care." Said Hugh Taylor MD, President-elect of ASRM.