Between a global pandemic and record-breaking healthcare debt in the U.S., it should come as no surprise that more women in their 20s are delaying starting families. But what happens when those twentysomething women choose to have a child ten or fifteen years from now?
According to the CDC, 6.1 million women struggle to get or stay pregnant. Yet, only 15 states require private healthcare insurers to provide some sort of fertility treatment, while only New York’s Medicaid program offers coverage — no Medicaid program covers in vitro fertilization. Still, larger employers have upped their fertility offerings for employees. Between 2015 and 2020, companies with over 500 employees saw an overall 4% increase in drug therapy, IVF and egg-freezing benefits, according to Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.
