Three ways to enhance women’s reproductive health benefits
Over the last year, women’s health challenges have been amplified in employer health benefit conversations to a level unseen before. Topics include racial disparities in women’s reproductive healthcare and outcomes, enhanced family building opportunities, the impact of menopause on women in the workforce, and access to contraceptives and primary healthcare for young women. During a recent Mercer webcast focusing on women’s reproductive health, we asked four experts in the field to discuss these issues and their visions for the future. Read on for a high-level summary of their conversation, including some suggestions for employers.
There is widespread lack of access to reproductive healthcare, and rates of maternal morbidity and mortality have risen over the past year. OBGYNs are feeling constrained in their ability to provide care for miscarriages and other pregnancy-related medical emergencies, particularly in states that restrict abortions. In addition, the myriad of state abortion laws and policies has also created confusion around contraceptive care and fertility care, for both patients and providers. Some laws have thrown access to emergency contraception in doubt, while others pose a threat to in vitro fertilization (IVF) by defining life as beginning at conception.
An increase in the number of maternity healthcare deserts in the U.S., along with provider shortages in general gynecological care (primarily primary care practitioners), impacts both women of reproductive age and those in their post-reproductive/menopausal years. These access issues have a disproportionate impact on Black, Hispanic, and rural Americans.
If your organization is interested in enhancing your health benefits to address any of these issues, here are three ways to start:
Enhance coverage and access to care. Enhance medical plan coverage across the reproductive health spectrum. Consider expansive contraceptive coverage; diverse pregnancy and delivery options such as alternative birth locations and doulas; remote monitoring; broad abortion coverage; medical travel benefits; and menopause and perimenopause symptom relief products, prescriptions, services. Reach more individuals with digital solutions; use those solutions in coordination with in-person care services.
Focus on inclusivity. Implement easy-to-access inclusive concierge support for sexual and reproductive health (e.g., telehealth and other virtual or digital care solutions) and reduce stigma in the workplace via educational campaigns and manager trainings to normalize women’s health discussions and communicate employer and community resources. Identify specialists and culturally- and racially-concordant providers. Measure health inequities (e.g., across gender, race/ethnicity, and geography) and develop targeted solutions.
Target social determinants of health. Review, identify, and target social determinants of health for the workforce and their families. Provide support such as workplace flexibility (in hours or location) for parents postpartum and stipends for childcare and transportation to medical appointments. Use virtual touchpoints to drive consistent engagement with healthcare providers. Track risk factors and partner with community-based, culturally competent providers. Measure disparities to help focus solutions.
These are just a few approaches employers can take to enhance their benefits and mitigate some of the reproductive healthcare challenges women in the workface face today. As Dr. Neel Shah aptly noted in the webinar, progress doesn’t require consensus, but rather simultaneity of response.
Watch our Centering women’s health post-Dobbs webcast to learn more from our panelists about today’s reproductive healthcare challenges, employer-focused solutions, and their visions for the future: Lori Evans Bernstein, CEO of Caraway; Cindy Gentry, Chief Revenue Officer of Midi; Maya Hardigan, CEO of Meet Mae; and Dr. Neel Shah Chief Medical Officer of Maven. The discussion was moderated by Mercer’s Health Equity Leader, Vikki Walton.