Trump proposes new way for employers to offer fertility benefits

US President Donald Trump has suggested employers could offer standalone fertility insurance coverage to make fertility care, including IVF, more widely available.  

The proposal, announced on 10 May, establishes a new 'limited excepted benefits' category for fertility treatments, similar to dental and vision plans. Unlike primary health insurance plans, excepted benefits do not have to follow certain federal health coverage requirements, making it easier for employers to offer them on a voluntary or supplemental basis. The rule is currently undergoing public review.  

'President Trump is committed to expanding access to fertility benefits so that more American families can have children, building on his longstanding efforts to support family formation and stability', commented labour minister Keith Sonderling.   

Citing the declining US birth rate as a key concern, the administration proposes that care covered under the rule would have a lifetime limit of US$120,000 per employee, to be adjusted for inflation after 2028. Currently, the cost of a single IVF cycle can reach $30,000. At each employer's discretion, cover could include IVF, genetic testing, medication, and treatment of conditions affecting fertility like endometriosis.  

RESOLVE, a patient advocacy group, reports that one in six people experience infertility. Yet, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 30 percent of all employers provide IVF benefits in 2026. Just fifteen states mandate the inclusion of IVF in fully insured health plans, and no state mandates apply to employers who self-insure.   

Trump's rule follows the introduction of TrumpRx in February 2026; the programme offers discounted prescription drugs, including some used for fertility treatment like Gonal F (see BioNews 1328).  

'We are encouraged that the Trump administration continues to pursue the president's stated goal of making IVF treatments available without cost for all Americans who need them, either through mandatory insurance coverage or a governmental program,' said chief advocacy and policy officer of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Sean Tipton. 'Allowing employers to voluntarily provide coverage as an 'excepted benefit,' may indeed increase access, but will not yet fulfil that promise.' 

Talking to CNN, Tipton also questioned how this rule would incentivise employers to cover fertility care, as the federal government would not provide tax breaks or other financial incentives for them to do so. Wesley Yin, professor of public policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles, warned that the lack of legal regulations around excepted benefits may allow companies to offer the benefit only to certain employees.  

The comment period for the proposed rule ends on 13 July, 2026.