Supporting Women in the Workforce: The Importance of Employer-Provided Supplemental Fertility Insurance Benefits [30A

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Age-related declines in natural fertility may pose a challenge to women who delay childbirth to pursue careers. Reproductive hormone testing may be critical for addressing workplace gender inequality by enabling women to pursue both professional and reproductive goals. Fertility treatments, when performed before significant fertility declines, can provide additional options. However, these procedures can be expensive and are not typically covered under employer-provided health insurance. We assessed U.S. women's beliefs about supplemental fertility insurance benefits. METHODS: Participants (N=327 women) completed an IRB-approved online survey in 2019. The data were analyzed with descriptive and chi-square analyses. RESULTS: Participants indicated that it is important to them to have insurance cover the cost of annual reproductive hormone testing (77.06%) and fertility treatments (78.28%). Further, they would choose an employer that provides insurance benefits for annual reproductive hormone testing (54.74%) and fertility treatments (59.32%) over one that does not. There were no differences by age, income, geographic region, health insurance, or fertility knowledge; however, infertile women were more likely than fertile women to choose an employer that provides insurance benefits for annual reproductive hormone testing (χ2=7.56*) and fertility treatments (χ2=7.99*). (note: * P<.05). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that U.S. women believe supplemental fertility insurance benefits are important, and they would choose an employer based on the provisioning of these benefits. Employer-provided insurance that includes supplemental fertility insurance benefits may enable women to achieve both professional and reproductive goals, ultimately contributing to greater workplace gender equality.