Every day, HR teams hear more than questions about password resets and policies—they hear pieces of employees’ lives. People show up with stories about caregiving, finances, family crises, and hopes for the future.
When October arrives, those stories collide with coverage decisions. Employees aren’t just comparing co-pays—they’re making choices that will shape their families for years. For some, it’s whether to pursue IVF. For others, it’s adoption, surrogacy, foster care, egg donation, or sudden kinship care after a tragedy.
The Problem
Despite rising demand for inclusive family-building benefits, most open enrollment (OE) materials still center on traditional offerings—medical, dental, and retirement plans. Family-forming journeys like adoption, surrogacy, egg donation, or foster care are often an afterthought, if they’re mentioned at all.
This lack of visibility leaves employees overwhelmed and unsupported during a critical planning moment. Without early guidance or clear language, they may choose expensive or emotionally draining paths that aren’t right for them. Others miss out on valuable resources—never realizing their employer already offered help.
What should be a season of clarity becomes a source of confusion, stress, and missed opportunity.
The Missed Insight
SHRM and Business Group on Health report that 67% of employees across generations want family-friendly benefits—not just fertility coverage, but true support for diverse family-building paths. And according to OnLabor, 90% of employees facing infertility would switch jobs solely for better family-building benefits.
Many employers still lead with reimbursement programs that only support families after they’ve chosen a path.
What’s missing? Early education, financial planning, and guided navigation—the essential pieces that empower employees to make confident, cost-effective decisions aligned with their goals and circumstances.
The Opportunity
This OE season is about more than selecting plans—it’s about shifting how we educate, engage, and empower employees.
When benefits leaders treat OE as a check-the-box task, employees are left scanning PDFs and portals for answers that aren’t there. But when OE becomes a moment to spark real understanding, it becomes a strategic opportunity—one that impacts retention, culture and well-being goals, and long-term cost savings.
Employees navigating adoption, surrogacy, foster care, or fertility often don’t need more coverage—they need earlier conversations, clearer options, and trustworthy guidance.
When they receive that support, they’re more likely to choose the right path, avoid unnecessary clinical claims, and feel that their workplace truly sees them.
For Brokers: Go Beyond the Benefit Line-Item
Many brokers are used to seeing family-building services as clinical line items—IVF coverage, egg freezing, IUI cycles. But not all support generates claims.
Non-clinical programs provide early-stage education, financial coaching, and emotional navigation that often reduce the need for high-cost treatments or healthcare spend entirely. Often employees go straight into IVF because they get overwhelmed at the endless google search for other paths, without knowing they qualify for adoption grants, can access kinship support, or even explore surrogacy with far better planning.
Why this matters for brokers:
- If your client is self-funded, reducing unnecessary fertility claims can lower overall cost exposure.
- If your client offers fertility benefits, adding Vesta can maximize ROI by helping employees make more informed choices—and reduce burnout from trial-and-error paths.
- If your client doesn’t yet offer family-building benefits, Vesta is a low-cost entry point to demonstrate a culture and belonging commitment and compete for talent—without breaking the bank.
This open enrollment season, help your clients look beyond “what’s covered”—and start leading with “what’s possible.”
Use this OE season to educate—not just enroll.
OE is a chance to move from transaction to transformation. The best programs don’t just list options—they guide employees through them.
The most impactful OE strategies include:
- Kickoff webinars to introduce offerings
- Direct outreach to eligible employees
- Seamless enrollment experiences
- Member-first support and navigation