CVS Specialty’s pharmacist-led dedicated CareTeams know fertility - clinically and emotionally.
From receiving the prescription to the last refill, patients are supported by CVS Specialty’s Fertility Center of Excellence (CoE) staffed by specially trained pharmacists, technicians and patient service representatives (PSRs) with years of experience supporting patients who deeply understand the unique clinical, financial, and emotional demands of fertility treatments.
Our CoE CareTeams work in lockstep with prescribers and patients to move fast, offering:
- Prompt onboarding after receiving the prescription, benefits verification, pharmacist review of each prescription on file, and counseling about what’s covered, what isn’t, and how a refill will draw down a benefit maximum.
- Patients have 24/7 access to our fertility-trained pharmacists for any questions or help on how to use therapies correctly.
Fertility care guided by empathy and experience
Compassion, alongside high-touch medication support, from people who truly understand the emotional weight of fertility treatment can be key to exceptional patient experiences. Some of those perspectives come from CVS Health employees who have been through treatment themselves.
Peter,1 a longtime member of CVS Specialty’s fertility team, brings both professional expertise and lived experience to patients. After years of trying to start a family, he and his wife turned to in vitro fertilization with the support of CVS Specialty. Their IVF journey ultimately led to the birth of two daughters, four years apart.
Today, he draws on that experience, coaching team members on empathy, building trust and grounding their work in the understanding that behind every order and every call is someone pursuing one of the most universal, deeply-felt human desires: to bring a family into the world.
For others, the fertility journey looks different — focused on planning for the future rather than pursuing pregnancy today.
At 33, Rachael, a CVS Health colleague and CVS Specialty patient, chose to freeze her eggs to keep the option of starting a family open down the road. “This was one of the most personal and intimidating decisions I’ve ever made,” she says. “But the moment I called CVS Specialty, I felt relieved. They were patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely caring — bringing me some peace of mind and simplicity to something that’s inherently complex.”
Understanding infertility and why it matters: Infertility affects millions of people - about 9% of men and 11% of women of reproductive age in the United States have experienced fertility problems, according to the National Institutes of Health.
- Infertility is clinically defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after a year of having regular, unprotected intercourse or after 6 months if the woman is over 35 years old. (source: NIH)
Making fertility treatment affordable without surprises
“Fertility is complex - and so are medical benefits and understanding the costs involved,” says Michele Bradshaw, Therapy Director of CVS Specialty’s Fertility CoE. “Patients going through infertility treatments already have a lot to think about, they don’t need surprises when it comes to what it will cost them.”
Our CoE PSRs provide guidance from the start, which includes:
- Benefits verification so patients and prescribers understand insurance coverage before treatment begins.
- Explanation of combined medical/pharmacy maximums - including for donors and surrogates.
- Sharing information on third-party financial assistance.
- Outlining likely spend across a full cycle.
- Supporting patients in making smart choices about what to run through insurance vs. pay out of pocket, especially when hitting a maximum benefit could affect later refills.
- Filing patient insurance claims to help get the most out of their fertility coverage while minimizing their costs.
When patients don’t have coverage, we educate them on lower cost alternatives, including through TrumpRx.gov.
Increasing affordable options for fertility medication
By providing specialty pharmacy services, CVS Specialty now supports patients accessing significantly reduced pricing on certain fertility medications via TrumpRx.gov.2
- TrumpRx.gov gives patients access to purchase select, commonly-used fertility medications at significantly reduced prices.
Patients accessing certain medications at reduced pricing available via TrumpRx.gov can now fill their prescription with CVS Specialty, where they can receive personalized support from our CoE CareTeam.
Operational strength for time-critical fertility medications
Timing is everything in fertility.
Fertility treatments can consist of many highly time-sensitive steps, coordinated to the patient’s natural cycle and with close, often daily, physician monitoring. Patients may have to take or inject specialty medications within a very narrow window of time – which could be within hours of their doctor’s appointment.
“Last minute urgency, with high stakes consequences means operational efficiency is paramount,” adds Michele. “Our teams are highly trained to coordinate the changes in prescriptions, dispense the medications and get them to our patients within that urgent, narrow window.”
In addition to free home or office delivery, CVS Specialty offers patients the option to pickup at their local CVS Pharmacy locations – a choice patients are increasingly finding more convenient for them.
- In the past year, CVS Specialty saw a 130% increase in fertility patients choosing to have their medications delivered to one of our 9,000 CVS Pharmacy locations.
At CVS Specialty, we’re committed to making care simpler and ensuring every patient feels supported on their path to building a family.
