Why a “Managed” Fertility Benefit Matters

Most people dream of having a family someday, even before they consider a partner. In fact, many assume that having a baby the old-fashioned way is a natural birthright. After all, we are made to be sexual beings so anyone can get pregnant, right? Wrong. Infertility is a hot-button issue today, affecting one-in-eight Americans, more than those affected by diabetes, breast cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. While offering fertility benefits to employees is often driven by talent and retention-related issues, there is still a high cost for employers who, whether they offer fertility benefits or not, are incurring much of the NICU and associated high-risk maternity-related expenses. In fact, when an employee is dealing with infertility alone, without a managed fertility benefit plan, the employer will ultimately lose financially. Here’s why:
  • The emotional suffering of fertility treatments leave an employee exhausted
  • After undergoing fertility treatments for a lengthy period, employees end up suffering emotionally and physically with anxiety, depression, absenteeism in the workplace
  • One employee’s morale can influence his or her work team, which eventually influences the entire company, including their bottom line.
Without managed fertility benefits, employees may pay out-of-pocket for any treatment, including medications. Problem is, when initial treatment fails, they reach out to IVF and may insist that many embryos are transferred to the uterus to increase the chance of pregnancy. Although this sounds viable, it is not. More than 20 percent of twins and 80 percent of triplets end up in the NICU.[1]

Who Ends Up Paying the Bill?

So, who ends up paying the bill? The employer. Employers are responsible for the costs related to the high-risk maternity care that will likely include a C-section, pre-term birth and NICU expenses, not to mention paying long term health care costs for conditions such as asthma, cerebral palsy or developmental problems in preemies as they grow up. [2]

Managed Fertility Coverage Saves Employers Money

With a managed fertility benefit plan, employers can lean on the experience and knowledge of those providing the benefits. In the case of WINFertility, a national leader in managing fertility benefits for two decades, this includes the following:
  • An integrated medical, genetic testing and pharmaceutical model, unique in the industry
  • 20+ years of documented, improved clinical results and cost savings
  • Fellowship trained Reproductive Endocrinologists who order tests, makes the infertility diagnosis or make recommendations for IVF or IUI
  • Nurse Care Managers who guide the patient 24/7 in how to take medications and make the best fertility treatment choices
  • Genetic testing, egg freezing and surrogacy benefits, if needed
  • Recommendations based on 20 years of evidence-based testing, protocols and treatment options and proven clinical results
  • The latest science-based and educational blogs that update patients on the recent findings on infertility

WIN Provides Evidence-Based Treatment Recommendations

At WINFertility, we save employers money by providing managed coverage by experts who do nothing but oversee fertility treatments. This removes cost constraints, so patients can make sound decisions based on the best evidence-based treatment recommendations for their diagnosis. WIN’s recommended testing, protocols and fertility treatment options are grounded on proven clinical results as validated by leading providers with the fertility community, as well as clinical industry professional associations.

WIN’s targeted initiatives and purpose-built proprietary systems do the following:

  • Improve member satisfaction
  • Lower the rates of high-order multiple gestations and related NICU utilization
  • Promote treatment options that yield better clinical outcomes
  • Reduce direct treatments costs
WINFertility has been successfully managing fertility benefits for two decades, covering millions of members and has compiled over 500,000,000 member months of data, the largest quality benchmark database in the entire industry.  
[1] National Business Group on Health. Healthy pregnancy and healthy children: opportunities and challenges for employers. In: Investing in maternal and child health: an employer’s toolkit. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/toolkits/et_maternal.cfm. [2] National Business Group on Health. Healthy pregnancy and healthy children: opportunities and challenges for employers. In: Investing in maternal and child health: an employer’s toolkit. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/toolkits/et_maternal.cfm.  

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