Ovia’s New Fertility & Family Building Benefit Supports Health Equity and Inclusive Family Building

Today, many individuals and families are pursuing fertility, adoption and surrogacy, yet a lack of traditional healthcare equity has left many feeling excluded, isolated or left to navigate these processes alone. 

That’s why I’m excited to announce Ovia Health by Labcorp (Ovia) has launched a new, first-of-its-kind Fertility and Family Building Benefit, which allows employers and health plans to design plan benefits and assistance packages based on their specific goals and budgets. The solution extends Ovia’s clinically driven approach to support family journeys – including assisted reproductive technologies (ART), adoption and surrogacy – and will be available to members of all demographics and family types, including those of same-sex couples and individuals.

The Fertility and Family Benefit includes:

• The Ovia Wallet™: A new financial tool allowing employers to contribute funds designated for eligible services across fertility services, adoption and surrogacy. Ovia has partnered with First Dollar, a financial technology platform, to offer several payment choices, including a digital wallet, physical debit card, and reimbursement options for qualified expenses including in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg freezing, adoption, surrogacy and more.
• Care Navigation: Support for members to identify and navigate fertility clinics, providers, and surrogacy and adoption agencies 
• Concierge Support and Services: Real-time, one-on-one support and clinical guidance from Ovia’s in-house care team

In contrast to existing fertility point solutions that often approach fertility health as a singular point in time, the Fertility and Family Building Benefit adopts a proactive approach. Ovia’s solution engages members in health-promoting practices early on and provides them with access to dedicated fertility experts to support them in understanding their reproductive health. Members will be able to use our in-app algorithm to improve their chances of conceiving without ART (if that is their goal). When analyzed, data shows these measures have helped members see up to a 65% reduction in ART utilization and up to a 47% reduction in multiple gestations.* Our new expanded benefit can also offer support for those who require ART or are trying to expand their family through alternative methods like adoption or surrogacy. 

For those encountering challenges in conceiving or exploring family-building methods such as adoption or surrogacy, our expanded support comes into play. Members can leverage Ovia’s maternity care management or postpartum care solutions. Leveraging prevention-focused, personalized care pathways, Ovia has demonstrated efficacy in reducing the risk of preterm births and associated complications by up to 54%.*

As employers and health plans look to help improve health outcomes and lower costs, many are also seeking to address an important need for greater health equity. For example, trends indicate the average age for mothers giving birth is increasing, and 63% of LGBTQIA+ Millennials (ages 18-35) are considering expanding their families and expect to use assisted reproductive technology, foster care or adoption to become parents. 

In a recent survey of more than 1,500 Ovia members, 65% of respondents reported fertility assistance, or support for alternative paths to parenthood, were of the utmost importance to them. Additionally, 26% of members who are seeking to become parents were already leaning on ART, surrogacy or adoption as their path to parenthood. When asked what services they would most like to see covered in the future, respondents overwhelmingly asked for assistance with in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg freezing, adoption, intrauterine insemination (IUI) and other forms of ART. Despite this demand, approximately:

• 12% had access to assisted reproductive technology (e.g. IUI, IVF, etc) support benefits
• 9% had access to adoption support benefits
• 3% had access to surrogacy support benefits
• 3% had access to egg-freezing support benefits

Ovia’s Fertility and Family Building Benefit offers relevant and appealing benefits to help employers and health plans better meet the needs of their employees and plan members, while helping to facilitate retention and inclusion. 

That’s why we designed our Fertility and Family Building Benefit – to support all family-building journeys – from preconception health and pregnancy through postpartum and beyond. The launch of this new benefit is an important step toward greater health equity and equal access to diverse family supports. 

For more on the new product expansion and how it can serve your organization or populations, schedule a call with the Ovia Team. 

*Note that these outcome(s) reflect(s) the greatest improvement experienced by a single client for this/these clinical condition area(s). Other clients experienced different outcomes in this/these clinical area(s). Actual results may vary based upon initial prevalence rate and engagement rates.