Arkansas Online

Walmart to cover fertility services

It’s in insurance for employees

SERENAH MCKAY

Walmart Inc. is adding fertility services to the treatments it covers for insured employees through its Centers of Excellence program, the company said Tuesday.

Kindbody, a chain of more than 30 fertility clinics in 26 cities, will serve Walmart employees enrolled in its medical insurance plan and their dependents. Walmart pays the total cost of most treatments at its 16 Centers for Excellence around the country.

Walmart covers travel expenses for an employee and a caregiver to visit the centers, but workers in Northwest Arkansas won’t have to go far to access Kindbody’s services when a clinic opens in Rogers next month.

The clinic will be at 2203 S. Promenade Blvd., Suite 5185, according to Kindbody’s website.

Prospective patients can schedule a consultation with a fertility expert and see a doctor online, Kindbody said. They can schedule inperson follow-up visits once the Rogers clinic opens, the company said.

Walmart employees have told the company that improved access to fertility, surrogacy and adoption support was a priority for them, said Kim Lupo, senior vice presi

dent of Walmart Global Total Rewards.

Walmart currently has only one Center of Excellence in Arkansas. That’s the Northwest Medical Center in Springdale, which Walmart has approved for weight-loss surgery.

Kindbody’s clinics provide in-vitro fertilization with comprehensive virtual, at-home and in-clinic care. Other services include fertility assessments and education; egg freezing; embryo banking and storage; genetic testing; and intrauterine insemination.

Dr. Fahimeh Sasan, the company’s chief innovation officer and founding physician, said in an email that Kindbody is a fertility provider and does not provide abortion services.

Dr. Angeline Beltsos, Kindbody’s clinical chief executive officer, said in a June blog post that the company was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

“As reproductive health care providers, our position is that all people have a right to patient privacy and autonomy over their own bodies,” Beltsos said.

“Every person should be free to choose if and when they become a parent and every person should have the agency and ability to access fertility care and advanced reproductive technologies if they want or need them,” Beltsos said.

Most large companies have struggled with what insurance or other coverage they should offer employees after the Supreme Court’s decision.

Walmart said in August that its self-insured health care plan would cover some abortions for participating employees. The plan covers cases in which a pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother; rape or incest; ectopic pregnancy; and miscarriage or “lack of fetal viability.”

The Bentonville-based retailer also pays travel expenses for its insured employees, or dependents covered under their policies, who have no access to abortion or other covered services within 100 miles of their location.

Walmart started its Centers of Excellence program in 2013 to cut down on unnecessary procedures and expenses. The program includes partnerships with such well-known medical institutions as the Cleveland and Mayo clinics; Geisinger Medical Center; and John Hopkins Hospital.

These centers cover different conditions under Walmart’s plan. For heart surgery, for instance, employees can go to the Cleveland Clinic; Geisinger; or the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.

Business & Farm

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2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/282930979236749

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