In vitro fertilization continues to be in demand in the U.S.
Many couples experience infertility, yet fertility care is still mostly not covered by insurance. One round of IVF can cost upward of $20,000, sometimes paid upfront, and many couples must go through more than one cycle to be successful.
One company saw an opportunity to offer a nationwide program to help parents-to-be afford this care. Founded in 2016, Future Family provides financing for fertility treatments. It has since expanded to other products and has extended more than $200 million in financing to over 10,000 families. The idea is that instead of a daunting upfront fee, smaller monthly payments can make building a family a reality.
This week, Future Family appointed a new CEO: Alden Romney. Romney has two decades of experience in healthcare, including at One Medical and behavioral health and fertility care businesses. Future Family's founder and prior CEO, Claire Tomkins, will stay on as executive chair.
“Coming back to partner with Claire and Future Family is a bit like coming home,” Romney told Fierce Healthcare. “What’s really excited me about this partnership … is to increase the access and affordability of fertility care for families. It’s a really emotional issue.”
Tomkins, who has a background in consumer finance, founded Future Family after her own IVF journey, which took multiple rounds. Tomkins reflected on how even a decade ago, the conversation around IVF was very different.
“At the time, it was actually quite a quiet topic. I remember going through fertility treatment, no one really talked about it,” Tomkins told Fierce Healthcare. “It was really hard.”
Just like with loans for a house, a car or education, Tomkins saw a need for a fertility-specific loan servicer. “It’s exactly the same as those three categories,” she said, “when there is an asset category which is a new form of lending needed, then a new product emerges.”
All clients also get access to a nurse coach in what Tomkins calls a “supercharged customer service layer,” with phone, video and text support for any questions they may have; however, it is not intended to be medical advice.
Part of what makes this programming successful is Future Family’s partnerships. Today, it works with 600 fertility clinics across the U.S. to make the borrowing experience as smooth as possible for patients. Patients make payments to Future Family, which then disperses the funds to the clinic.
The loans also allow for bundling of all associated costs, including clinical care, pharmacy and genetic testing. In addition to clinics, Future Family works with pharmacies, primarily independents, to offer selective discounts.
The loans are available at competitive interest rates, Tomkins said, ranging from 7.99% to 23.99%. In some cases, borrowers may have the option to pay back over 12 months with zero interest. Loans can range from $20,000 to $50,000, with monthly payments starting at $300. Unlike other traditional loans, borrowers have 90 days of leeway before they have to start using the funds and therefore paying interest.
Earlier this year, Future Family launched what it says is the first nationwide IVF insurance program, Baby or Your Money Back, and secured $400 million in financing from Clear Haven Capital to scale. That financing pool is expected to serve 20,000 families.
With its insurance product, Future Family offers customers two options: coverage for two cycles or two cycles plus medications. They pay monthly premiums throughout their cycle, and, if they are not ultimately successful, they are guaranteed the full cost of the treatments back. The product is backed by a re-insurance carrier and there is no risk to patients or providers. “It is still the case that many many patients require more than two cycles, and, in fact, no one is guaranteed success after two cycles,” Tomkins said.
Looking ahead, Future Family hopes to deepen relationships with clinics and grow its insurance product, too. Tomkins sees the company as “absolutely a healthcare business.”
“We have innovated on the product side—the cost of healthcare is probably one of the hottest topics in the country right now,” Tomkins said. “And to scale this company even further, we want healthcare distribution.” That may include employers and payers in the future.
“We are really scratching the surface in terms of meeting demand for fertility care,” Tomkins added.
“The core focus for us is to be able to help more families build the families of their dreams,” Alden echoed.