The Trump administration said Sunday it was moving on an effort to expand access to fertility benefits to more Americans, announcing a new proposed rule aimed at making it easier for employers to offer in vitro fertilization services among other benefits.
The proposed rule by the Labor Department in conjunction with Health and Human Services and Treasury would create a new type of stand-alone insurance coverage for fertility benefits exempt from requirements under the Affordable Care Act — similar to dental and vision plans.
Insurance coverage of fertility treatment costs was among President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, though the new rule would not eliminate all costs for beneficiaries.
“President Trump is committed to expanding access to fertility benefits so that more American families can have children,” acting labor secretary Keith Sonderling said in a statement announcing the proposed rule.
The rule builds on an executive order signed by Trump in February that asked for policy recommendations to reduce the cost of fertility treatments. The Trump administration said the proposed rule announced Sunday would reduce the cost of such services.
Fertility treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars, putting them firmly out of reach for many Americans whose employers do not pay for such benefits. About one quarter of employers offer IVF and infertility treatment coverage, according to a 2025 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.
The proposed rule defines fertility benefits to include diagnosis, alleviation and treatment of infertility and other related reproductive health conditions. Lifetime fertility benefits would be capped at $120,000 for the participant and their beneficiaries, with inflation-adjusted increases for plans beginning after 2028.
The White House declined to comment. But spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Washington Post in February that “administration is committed like none before it to using its authorities to deliver” on its pledge to expand access to IVF.
Trump’s campaign promise to mandate IVF coveragehas languished over the past year. One challenge has been that the executive branch cannot legally make IVF an essential health benefit without Congress first approving legislation to do so.
The announcement arrives as Senate Democrats have blasted the administration for its lack of progress on expanding access to fertility treatments. In a letter sent last week to the head of Trump’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, more than a dozen senators — including Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) — called Trump’s promise “entirely hollow.”
Efforts to make fertility treatments more accessible have received support from social conservatives alarmed by the nation’s falling birth rates, while traditional free-market Republicans in the party have raised concerns about new federal mandates. Requiring the Affordable Care Act exchanges to cover IVF would lead insurance companies to raise premium costs.
The proposed rule would also allow employees to sign up for fertility benefits without a requirement to enroll in an employer’s major medical coverage plan.
“The decline in birth rates is a serious challenge for our nation,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the news release announcing the proposed rule. “Under President Trump’s leadership, this rule expands access to fertility care and gives more Americans a real path to starting and growing their families.”
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