The IRS and other federal agencies have proposed new rules that could expand employers’ ability to provide fertility benefits to employees as early as plan years starting Jan. 1, 2027. If finalized, the rules would create a new category of “limited excepted benefits” for fertility care, allowing services such as IVF, fertility medications, and infertility diagnosis and treatment to be offered outside many Affordable Care Act requirements, if certain conditions are met. Plans could include a lifetime benefit cap of up to $120,000 per participant (adjusted for inflation). Premiums could be paid with pre-tax dollars, potentially reducing employer and employee tax liabilities.
