Trump Administration Proposes Optional Employer Fertility Benefit Including IVF

President Donald Trump announced a new fertility coverage option during a Mother’s Day event on Monday, May 11, 2026, in the Oval Office of the White House. ” The proposed rule would create an optional insurance benefit for fertility care, including IVF treatments, that can be offered to employees similar to vision or dental insurance.

The policy is to be created by the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services.

It would create a new category of benefits that can be voluntarily provided by employers and opted into by employees. Administration officials told reporters on Monday that employers should expect to be able to opt in for coverage for the plan starting in 2027. The new proposal must go through a 60-day comment period before being finalized.

The proposed rule does not require the federal government to pay for IVF treatments, nor does it include a mandate requiring insurance companies to pay for the treatments. Senior health officials cited the nation’s falling birth rate, which has been declining for the past 20 years, as the primary reason for the proposed rule. The birth rate is well below replacement levels.

U.S. population will begin shrinking by 2056 due to the persistent baby bust. Dr. ” More than 1 in 10 couples who want to conceive struggle with infertility, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gov was launched on Sunday, Mother’s Day. It highlights pregnancy resource centers, advice on prenatal and postnatal care, nutritional information, and baby formula safety.

Gov by Monday after not appearing on launch day. The technical language of the rule allows for all forms of fertility care coverage, including restorative reproductive medicine. ” Brown described the approach as “this sort of split-the-baby, pun intended, approach to try to expand access for IVF...

Americans for IVF met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in December. ” Washington Examiner reported that both anti-abortion advocates and supporters of universal in vitro fertilization access criticized the policy as too much of a middle ground.