FEHB as a Catalyst for Change in Women’s Health Care

Women drive the American economy through their buying power and outsized influence over everyday life. Currently, half of the U.S. workforce consists of women – and despite the COVID pandemic’s disproportionate impact on working women, more of us are in the workplace today than ever before. On a macro-level, this shift is long overdue, as diversity and inclusion in the workplace helps fuel a more robust, innovative economy.

Jobs can offer dignity and security. Good paying jobs with benefits take this a step further and help support well-being through financial and physical health. Most working women receive health coverage from their employers and rely on those benefits to access health services. Increasingly, employers understand their role in contributing to well-being and are increasingly investing more in point solutions targeted towards women’s unique health care needs, such as preventive care and family planning.

In response to this growing focus, investment in women’s health care companies in the U.S. surged to an all-time high of $3.3 billion in 2022. This number is projected to grow given the $100 million the Biden Administration committed to drive innovation in women’s health. However, these trends do not make-up for the historic under-investment in women’s health care broadly, especially across the full continuum of our needs. Most investments are generally directed to fertility and family planning which leaves a dearth of solutions for non-reproductive stages of women’s health – such as menopause.

Women also bear the brunt of caregiving burden, and the majority of working caregivers report struggling to balance their family and career obligations. Consider an employee who may be caring for a spouse. Without support, they’re more likely to reduce their hours or quit their job. New research from Harvard Business School shows that if sufficient caregiver support prevented five employees from quitting – it could save a company $200,000. Failing to address avoidable gaps in benefits makes it increasingly difficult for women to stay engaged in their work and excel in their careers.

Prioritizing health care innovations for women across their entire career span is critical to the well-being of the economy, as women workers have been a critical part of post-pandemic economic recovery. This suggests that employers have a pivotal role to play in pushing demand for new models of health care and innovative solutions that support the health needs of women in the workforce.

Notably, the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program covers over eight million Americans. As the largest and most geographically diverse employer-sponsored insurance program in the United States, FEHB is uniquely well-positioned to build on their legacy of investing in preventive care for women and pilot innovations in underinvested areas. Their decisive action could serve as a playbook for large employers across the U.S. to reference in pursuit of more holistic benefits to support women in the workforce.

Here are three areas FEHB administrators and other employers should consider:

• Solutions for Perimenopause and Menopause: Menopause, the natural decline of a woman’s reproductive hormones, is known to increase a woman’s risk for a number of health conditions including heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis. However, the impact of menopause extends beyond physical, cognitive, and emotional health. When menopause symptoms are left untreated, worker performance and productivity are affected. With nearly 50 million women in the workforce falling within the menopausal age group, and symptoms that can last a decade or longer, the failure to enhance menopause supports can have significant economic implications for employers and the workforce. These initiatives should consider enhancing access to services that provide patient choice in treatment options, coverage for integrated hormone therapy, and require insurers and partners to report on utilization of services falling within this phase. With sufficient reporting on offerings and utilization from multiple employers, special ratings can be developed and awarded to plans with high-value offerings with good patient experience data.
• A Safety Net for Caregivers: The Department of Labor estimates that unpaid caregiving costs women 15 percent of their lifetime earnings. Women caregivers tend to report more physical and mental stress and are at greater risk of poor health; Blue Cross Blue Shield found that most caregivers tend to be in the commercially insured population and have worse health outcomes than publicly insured counterparts – by 26 percent.  These data support the need to cover innovative solutions to support caregiving as this relates directly to improving the health of the workforce. While caregiving is disproportionately done by women, the needs of caregivers are unique. Therefore, an annual survey of benefit plan participants is a positive step and can help develop an evidence-backed stance on this critical issue for future benefit years.
• Enhanced Family Planning and Maternal Care: While FEHB has established a solid framework for fertility planning, there is an opportunity to extend services to account for the full family process. Additionally, maximizing coverage of prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum supports, including flexibility to support the use of virtual care and remote patient monitoring for at least six months following labor and delivery, can better position women workers to have more positive maternal outcomes.

We applaud FEHB for their consistent commitment to improving in women’s preventive care. Through these types of efforts, the program can set a meaningful precedent and lead the broader world of employer-sponsored women’s health benefits into a new frontier.

Orriel L. Richardson, JD, MPH, leads health policy and equity at Morgan Health, the JPMorganChase business unit focused on improving employer-sponsored health care.