As open enrollment approaches, many HR leaders, consultants, and managers are seeking ways to enhance their company’s competitive advantage. However, many organizations still do not understand that in order to attract and retain top talent it is critical to provide employees with inclusive benefits packages.
While “inclusivity” can refer to a broad range of financial, educational, and social support resources, thoughtfully curated benefits that cater to a diverse workforce can also demonstrate an employer’s dedication to recruiting and retaining top talent. By offering employees benefits that meet and exceed their expectations and desires, organizations demonstrate how much they sincerely value and respect all current and future employees, regardless of their age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
Thus, HR leaders must find relevant, cutting-edge strategies for providing the most competitive and inclusive benefits packages possible while keeping the company’s bottom line top of mind. Here’s how organizations are evolving to deliver these necessary benefits, along with actionable tips to prepare for open enrollment.
Authentically fulfilling DEI initiatives
Over the past few years, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts have become increasingly important, with a majority of employees in the United States agreeing that organizations should work to support individuals of all backgrounds. While DEI recruitment initiatives for new employees and revamped practices and policies to support existing workers are essential, true DEI includes the addition of authentically inclusive benefits packages.
In addition to a growing focus on mental health services, organizations are building on traditional health coverage offerings to include fertility care benefits — and research shows this particular addition can make or break a company’s recruitment and retention success.
According to Carrot’s Global Fertility at Work survey:
- 65% of respondents would change jobs for fertility benefits
- 72% would stay at a company longer if they had access to fertility benefits
- 42% said that a new job offer with no fertility benefits would be a “deal breaker”
A rising number of employers are recognizing this demand for comprehensive fertility coverage. According to a study by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), 40% of U.S. organizations included fertility benefits in their 2023 benefits packages, indicating a substantial increase from 2020, when just 30% of companies offered these benefits. In order to remain relevant and competitive in the modern labor market while retaining top-tier talent, organizations must meet employees’ needs, and today’s employees are clear that inclusive fertility benefits are no longer a nice-to-have, but a true necessity.
What are “inclusive” fertility benefits?
Traditional health benefits have been known to ignore the diverse needs of marginalized employees. For example, many insurance-based benefits plans lack certain types of gender-affirming care coverage, and while 15 states require some private insurers to cover certain types of fertility treatments, there are significant gaps in coverage and laws vary widely. Due to these shortcomings, these areas must be supplemented in other ways, with the addition of additional coverage options.
While the addition of fertility benefits to any traditional health plan has the potential to directly support many more employees, the type of fertility coverage generally offered through insurance requires an infertility medical diagnosis. Not only does this requirement exclude same-sex couples, but also those who may choose to use a gestational carrier or seek hormonal health support for non-fertility issues, including menopause and low testosterone (low T). By intentionally shifting the coverage focus from “infertility” to “fertility and hormonal health,” employers can expand care access to everyone who may need it.
Even with this shift of focus, simply tacking on supplemental benefits typically isn’t enough to truly meet the needs of a diverse workforce. Some fertility care programs limit membership by gender or service, which excludes many LGBTQ+ couples or single individuals seeking ways to expand their families. There is, however, a solution to avoiding these exclusionary stipulations: employers must seek out a fertility care partner whose offerings include a range of services, including everything from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and adoption to egg, sperm, and embryo preservation for everyone, including single individuals and those in same-sex partnerships.
How to improve your approach this open enrollment season
Organizations that are ready and willing to take the necessary steps to provide truly inclusive benefits coverage are opting to add fertility benefits that go beyond basic coverage. According to Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, the addition of fertility benefits is on the rise, especially among large employers, with 61% of companies with 500 or more employees providing these benefits. But smaller companies are also tapping into the needs and desires of workers, with about a third (32%) of those with 50-499 employees covering some type of infertility service.
But the companies that are offering these services are no longer satisfied to offer basic insurance-backed plans that only provide minimal coverage to those with infertility diagnoses. An increasing number of employers are now offering coverage for services including IVF, intrauterine insemination (IUI), egg, sperm, and embryo preservation, and more. And encouragingly, in addition to offering coverage for infertility benefits, nearly half the survey respondents (46%) provide financial support for adoption, and many provide financial support for surrogacy and adoption.
A common misconception surrounding inclusive benefits offerings is that employers must front the cost of all services at one time. In reality, each organization can determine what’s right for their business, beginning with modest contributions in more areas. This helps ensure that what is being offered is actually inclusive and affords employers the opportunity to scale up these efforts at a later date, based on assessments of employee benefit usage over time.
The important financial takeaway for HR leaders seeking to emulate these trends: nearly all of the Mercer survey respondents offering inclusive fertility benefits say they have not experienced a significant cost increase. By covering relatively low-cost services like fertility testing, employers can actually avoid high future costs. For example, if fertility tests indicate a low likelihood of IVF success, workers have the opportunity to consider other, more appropriate options, rather than undergoing multiple rounds of IVF, which can cost upwards of $14,000 per round.
By partnering with an inclusive fertility care provider like Carrot, employers can confidently offer their workers a number of benefits that are not traditionally offered through insurance-backed coverage, including:
- Personalized and evolving care plans and navigation
- Individualized guidance for locating and booking in-person appointments at vetted clinics
- Same-day medication delivery options
- 24/7 phone assistance
- Curated educational resources
- Unlimited virtual access to in-house providers and experts across disciplines
- Options to include support across other areas, including menopause, low T, and preconception
- Payment card for use at the point of sale
- Coverage for donor, agency, and attorney fees for gestational surrogacy and adoption
- The ability for all individuals and couples to access treatment without an infertility diagnosis — including same-sex and single-intending parents
- Coverage for first-line interventions including at-home testing
- And more
Contact Carrot today to better understand how inclusive fertility benefits can empower your organization to offer the most comprehensive and competitive coverage this open enrollment season.
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