About David Schlanger
David Schlanger, executive chairman of Progyny, has discussed the company's approach to fertility benefits for self-insured employers. He stated that Progyny's model aims to provide a comprehensive solution that offers a positive patient experience, superior clinical outcomes, and cost savings for employers. Schlanger described the company's competition as the "status quo" of employers using traditional health carriers, and noted that Progyny differentiates itself through benefit plan design focused on outcomes, patient education and support, and a network of fertility specialists. He said that the opportunity for such services is large and becoming more mainstream across industries, as infertility is increasingly recognized as a common health condition.
Schlanger has also commented on the broader context of fertility coverage in the workplace. He argued that not covering fertility benefits makes a "negative cultural statement" about a company's valuation of its female workforce, while providing robust coverage signals support for families and inclusivity. He noted that a survey indicated two-thirds of employees would switch jobs to secure fertility coverage, and stated that employers are recognizing infertility as a health condition recognized by the WHO and AMA. Schlanger also discussed the role of technology in healthcare, describing it as an enabler rather than a replacement for human care, and emphasized the importance of going beyond regulatory requirements to protect sensitive personal data.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from David Schlanger's recent appearances.
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Transcript (10 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
Congratulations on a pretty smooth debut. Here, maybe you can walk viewers through the model and talk about what led you to this day.
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David Schlanger0:08
Sure, thanks for having me. So what we essentially do is we offer two large self-insured employers a comprehensive fertility benefits solution that they offer to their employees. What's very unique about us is that we've been successful in showing that you can have a great patient experience, superior clinical outcomes, and you can save employers money at the same time.
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Interviewer0:30
I was going to ask about the competitive landscape. Talk about how to characterize the competition that's out there and then Progyny's edge.
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David Schlanger0:42
Yeah, so the competition frankly for us is the status quo. It's employers that turn to their traditional health carriers to provide them a fertility solution. But we really do everything differently, everything from our benefit plan design, which is focused on outcomes as opposed to limiting access to care, the extensive amount of patient education, guidance, and support we provide, and then lastly, our network is very unique. We have the top fertility specialists in the country that we actively collaborate with to ensure that they're utilizing best practices and making sure our members are having the best outcomes.
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Interviewer1:15
No, David, it's amazing because I just remember a couple years ago with some of the big tech companies out in Silicon Valley started offering some of these benefits around things like egg freezing to their employees. It was seen as such a big and sort of unusual type of benefit to be offering, but since then, so many more companies have come on board with these types of benefits. How big is the opportunity here and what are the industries that are adopting them?
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David Schlanger1:38
Well, we really think the opportunity is very large, and every company regardless of the industry is really seeing value from the types of fertility solutions we provide. Our clients right now represent over 20 industries. So while you're correct that the tech companies were initial leaders in rolling this out, it's becoming much more mainstream as frankly the issue of infertility is becoming much more well-known and commonplace in the marketplace.
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Interviewer2:05
David, you point to a survey that shows that two-thirds of employees, depending on the category, are willing to switch jobs to ensure fertility coverage. That's a powerful incentive to take up your services, I imagine, when the labor market is tight. But when the labor market inevitably loosens, what happens to your model when people aren't perhaps so concerned about holding on to employees?
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David Schlanger2:34
Well, we really view what we do not as a nice-to-have but as a have-to-have. The part of the workforce that's in their child-rearing years is an incredibly important part of the workforce, and those employees know that fertility is very common. It affects one in eight individuals, and that treatment for infertility is very expensive. So they know that unless their employer provides some sponsorship, they'll never be able to afford it. And employers are understanding that infertility is a health condition that's recognized as such by the WHO and the AMA, and they're realizing that this is an important and essential part of their benefits packages. So we feel actually very well-positioned regardless of economic cycles.
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Interviewer3:15
Is the price for some of these fertility treatments like IVF, for example, going to come down, especially as more companies and more potential patients go to these models?
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David Schlanger3:28
Well, certainly fertility treatments are expensive. What we've been able to accomplish for our employers is that we've been able to hold pricing relatively constant over the last several years. And our model is really all about value for our employers because our outcomes are so far superior to the national averages. We're actually able to show our employers that our solution will save them money, which in today's environment is very important. And you mentioned before what happens in an economic downturn: benefits that save employers money will be even more important. So again, we feel well-positioned.
