Costco helps families in many ways. The warehouse club saves members money on groceries and provides discounts on everything from travel to tires and alcohol.
In addition, the chain also helps people with a variety of medical and health needs. That includes offering affordable hearing aids, discounted eyecare and glasses, and pharmacies that offer lower-cost prescriptions on many drugs.
The warehouse club even offers access to $29 virtual care appointments for people who do not have health insurance or whose insurance does not cover those visits.
“Accessing healthcare should be as easy and affordable as shopping at Costco — and for Costco members, it now is. On September 25, Sesame and Costco announced a partnership to offer special discount pricing to all Costco Members on a broad range of outpatient medical care offered at Sesame,” Sesame shared in a press release.
Now, Costco has expanded that partnersip into a highly-needed area that will benefit families.
Costco adds fertility care help
“One in ten women ages 18 to 49 say they or their partner have received fertility assistance, but 3% of women say they were unable to get the fertility care they needed,” KFF.org shared in its report Access to Fertility Care: Findings from the 2024 KFF Women’s Health Survey.
Key findings include:
- One in eight (13%) reproductive age women say they or their partner have ever needed fertility services to help them become pregnant or prevent a miscarriage.
- Cost is the leading reason why women say they could not obtain the fertility care they need.
- Higher shares of women with low incomes report cost as the main barrier compared to those with higher incomes.
- The fertility services that reproductive-age women most commonly use are fertility advice, fertility testing, and medications to improve ovulation.
Costco isn’t solving those problems, but it has partnered with health care providers to give members more access to fertility care.
“The big-box warehouse chain is partnering with cash-pay health care platform Sesame and fertility experts IVI RMA North America to offer its 81 million global members access to comprehensive fertility care coordination and treatment as well as up to 80% savings on fertility medications with Costco exclusive pricing,” Glamour reported.
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Which fertility care services will Costco offer?
“Collaborating with leaders who bring both clinical expertise and innovative care coordination allows us to offer our Costco members meaningful support throughout their family-building journey with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind,” Costco Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Richard Stephens told Glamour.
Infertility is a broad problem.
Roughly one in six people globally (17.5%) experience infertility at some point in their lives. That rate holds consistent across income levels and geographic regions, according to the World Health Organization.
This partnership expands access to fertility services broadly.
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“Not only does Costco have locations all across the country as well as 145 million cardholders, but IVI RMA is a leading expert in fertility care with its own large network of IVF laboratories,” Glamour reported.
Sesame does not take health insurance, which the company says allows it to have lower prices.
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Here’s how Costco’s new fertility care works
Costco members seeking fertility treatment have immediate access to Sesame clinicians —bypassing the typical three-to-six-month wait to see a reproductive endocrinologist — for a comprehensive intake and diagnostic workup.
“If additional care is required, such as IVF or egg freezing, patients will be referred to IVI RMA ready to start on a treatment plan right away. Sesame’s clinicians will also stay with the patient throughout any IVI RMA procedures to help translate medical terminology, provide emotional support, and offer any other care coordination needed,” according to a joint Costco, Sesame, and IVI RMA press release.
- Fertility medications are fulfilled by Costco, with exclusive member pricing that includes savings of up to 80% on medications like Follistim through pharmacy programs.
- This dramatically reduces one of the biggest out-of-pocket expenses in fertility care, saving patients thousands of dollars on each cycle, according to the press release.
- If specialty care is advised, patients are directly connected to IVI RMA, where additional discounts have been negotiated for Costco members.
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