As Fertility Benefits Legislation Takes Shape, Maven Clinic Offers Employers Tools for Getting Coverage Right

NEW YORK, July 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Maven Clinic, the world's largest virtual clinic for women and families, released new clinical research on fertility benefit design, a practical guide to state fertility mandates, and a public comment supporting the proposed federal rule on excepted fertility benefits.

As fertility coverage expands through new state mandates, proposed federal policy, and growing employer investment, the challenge is shifting from whether to offer fertility benefits to how to design them well to manage both clinical and financial risk.

New research from the Maven Clinical Research Institute found that how a fertility benefit is designed can cut the cost to pregnancy nearly in half

Fertility benefits have historically been built around a fixed number of IVF cycles, a structure that creates a quiet incentive problem: employees may feel pressure to move straight to the most expensive treatment, even when a lower-intensity option might work. Maven's benefit design removes that tradeoff — lower-intensity treatments like IUI are covered without eating into IVF coverage, so if a doctor recommends it, a patient can try it without giving anything up.

Maven found that employees who started with IUI had an average cost to pregnancy of $14,626, compared to $28,891 for those who started with IVF. Among strong IUI candidates, those with Maven's benefit design were 25% more likely to start there, without increasing IUI use among people who clinically needed IVF. The right benefit design doesn't push people toward the most expensive option. It gives employees and their doctors the room to start with the right one.

Supporting the proposed federal fertility benefits rule, with recommendations drawn from a decade of benefit design

Earlier this year, the U.S. Departments of Labor, HHS, and Treasury issued a proposed rule on excepted fertility benefits that would enable employers to offer fertility benefits as a new category of limited excepted benefits separate from their primary group health plan.

Maven submitted a public comment supporting the proposed rule, which would establish a streamlined pathway for employers to offer standalone fertility benefits without the regulatory complexity and costs associated with traditional group health plan coverage. Maven urged prompt finalization of the rule and offered recommendations to encourage broad employer adoption. Maven also encouraged the Departments to provide employers with maximum flexibility to design evidence-based fertility benefits that recognize the full continuum of care — including virtual care and care management — and provide practical implementation guidance for employers.

A guide for employers navigating state fertility mandates 

To help employers navigate the evolving regulatory landscape, Maven is releasing a practical, interactive guide to state fertility mandates.

With 25 states and Washington, D.C. requiring some form of fertility insurance coverage—and self-insured employers often operating outside those mandates—benefit design has become increasingly complex. Maven's guide helps employers understand both their compliance obligations and their options for designing clinically effective fertility benefits.

"Access to fertility coverage is the entry point, not the finish line," said Dr. Neel Shah, Chief Medical Officer of Maven Clinic. "Millions of people still have no fertility benefits at all, and closing that gap remains essential. But for employers that already offer coverage, benefit design determines whether fertility care delivers better outcomes for families—or simply more treatment."

Maven's position is grounded in more than a decade of outcomes data across more than 2,300 employer and health plan partners. Thirty percent of Maven fertility members achieve pregnancy without assisted reproductive technology (ART), and Maven's IVF pregnancy rate of 62% exceeds the national benchmark. Employers using Maven's full managed benefit see an average of $9,600 in savings per birth, a 2:1 clinical ROI, and a 4:1 business ROI.

About Maven Clinic 

Maven Clinic is the world's largest virtual clinic for women and families on a mission to make healthcare work for all of us. Through Maven Enterprise, the company partners with more than 2,300 employers and health plans to provide end-to-end women's and family health programs spanning fertility and family building, maternity and newborn care, parenting and pediatrics, and menopause and midlife, improving clinical outcomes, reducing healthcare costs, and expanding equitable access to high-quality care at scale. Through its consumer virtual clinic, Maven provides direct access to virtual care across 30+ specialties, as well as dedicated hormone and GLP-1 care programs purpose-built for women.

Founded in 2014 by CEO Kate Ryder, Maven Clinic has raised more than $425 million from leading healthcare and technology investors including General Catalyst, Sequoia, Dragoneer Investment Group, Oak HC/FT, StepStone Group, Icon Ventures, and Lux Capital. Recognized for innovation and industry leadership, Maven has been named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies, CNBC Disruptor 50, Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and FORTUNE Best Places to Work. Learn more at mavenclinic.com.

SOURCE Maven Clinic