U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer today joined President Trump at the White House as the President announced the third most-favored-nation agreement, which will result in significant cost savings on fertility treatments. On the heels of the President’s announcement, the U.S. Department of Labor, joined by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury, issued guidance designed to cut burdensome red tape, helping employers understand how to structure health benefits to expand access to fertility treatments like In Vitro Fertilization or IVF.
“President Trump is once again keeping his promises by taking decisive action to make health care more affordable for women, striking a significant deal to lower pharmaceutical costs of fertility medications and treatments,” Secretary Chavez-DeRemer said. “To provide additional flexibility for employers and insurers, the Labor Department, along with HHS and Treasury, are issuing additional guidance to employers who want to expand fertility benefits. We will keep fighting to make the American Dream achievable again and ensure American families are always put first.”
Following the President’s announcement today, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued new guidance in line with the President’s Executive Order 14216, ” Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization .” The guidance clarifies existing categories of excepted benefits that employers can use to offer fertility benefits, including fertility treatment through a specified disease or illness policy, or offering reimbursement for those services through an excepted benefits health reimbursement arrangement.
The departments also intend to propose rulemaking aimed at providing additional ways that certain fertility benefits may be offered as a limited excepted benefit. The departments are also considering whether to modify the standards under which supplemental health insurance coverage provided by a group health plan, including a supplemental benefit for fertility coverage, will be considered to satisfy the conditions for being an excepted benefit.