A new partnership between Costco, Sesame (a cash-pay health care marketplace), and IVI RMA (a network of fertility clinics) aims to lower some of the major barriers Americans face when seeking fertility treatment. On Monday, the companies announced that for $99 a month with a Costco membership (or $119 without), you can meet virtually with a doctor of your choosing on the Sesame platform for a fertility intake and diagnostic workup. That means bypassing often months-long wait times to get an appointment with a specialist. From there, Sesame links you with an IVI RMA clinic in your area—over 85% of them are within 25 miles of a Costco—to coordinate treatments like IVF (in vitro fertilization) or IUI (intrauterine insemination), at reduced pricing, with drugs also discounted via Costco’s specialty pharmacy.
Anything that lessens the steep sticker price of IVF is a big win, Brian Levine, MD, founding partner and practice director of CCRM Fertility of New York, tells SELF. (Dr. Levine is not affiliated with Costco, Sesame, or IVI RMA.)
Currently, there is a huge gap between the number of people who may seek out fertility treatment in the US—for example, those with infertility or recurrent miscarriage, and LGBTQ+ folks—and those who can access it. “The largest barrier when it comes to access is undeniably cost and affordability,” Dr. Levine says. IVF can be upward of $5,000 or $6,000 with insurance, and as much as $30,000 without, if you factor in the related lab work, services, and medications. Fewer than half of states have a mandate requiring private insurers to cover fertility care.
There’s also the issue of finding that care, even if you can afford it. A 2023 study suggests demand upward of 2 million annual in IVF cycles in the US, which would require the mere 1,250 practicing reproductive endocrinologists in the US to do roughly seven times as many cycles as they’re currently completing. The fact that many Costco members live close to an IVI RMA clinic is key, given that “fertility patients also have to undergo regular appointments, as many as six within a two-week span,” Dr. Levine says. (The partnership will be less useful for people who live in New York City or other cities without an IVI RMA clinic.)
“There’s also still a lack of awareness around fertility timelines, which means some patients don’t seek care until they get older, and their options are more limited,” Lisa Van Dolah, CEO of Ivy Fertility, tells SELF. This kind of large public partnership could help get the convo started sooner.
