Overview: More Benefits, Less Confidence
Maven Clinic, the world’s largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health, has released its fifth annual State of Women’s & Family Health Benefits report. The 2026 report draws on responses from 2,071 HR leaders and 4,964 full-time employees across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and India. Together, these findings paint a clear picture: employers are adding more benefits every year, yet employees feel less supported than ever before.
The report focuses on four major forces reshaping how employees access care today. These forces include rising healthcare costs, persistent access barriers, growing demand for treatments like GLP-1 medications and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and the rapid adoption of AI tools for health guidance. As a result, employers face a widening gap between what they offer and what employees actually experience.
Rising Costs Are Reshaping Family Health
The Financial Pressure on Employers and Families
For many women and families, starting a family has become more uncertain and more expensive. Health insurance premiums for families rose 6% in 2025, reaching nearly $28,000 per family. Furthermore, high-risk maternity and NICU care now rank among the top cost drivers for most large organizations.
Long wait times and provider shortages make timely care harder to access. Therefore, many employees turn to faster alternatives, including AI tools, to inform their health decisions. Meanwhile, employers continue investing more to fill these gaps, even as overall healthcare costs keep climbing.
“Nobody wants to spend more and feel like they’re getting less,” said Kate Ryder, founder and CEO of Maven Clinic. “This is the fourth consecutive year that costs will rise for benefits leaders left to fill the gaps of a broken healthcare system.”
Key Findings from the 2026 Report
Employee Confidence Is Declining
Employers reported a 39% average increase in women’s and family health benefits offered year over year. Major growth areas include fertility coverage, adoption and surrogacy support, paid parental leave beyond legal minimums, and parenting programs. However, employee confidence declined across nearly every category.
The share of employees who say their benefits support them “very well” dropped from 65% to 56% for preconception care. Support ratings for fertility fell from 55% to 49%, while adoption support dropped from 46% to 39%. These shifts suggest that expanding offerings alone is not enough. Many employees now struggle to navigate a growing patchwork of point solutions, making benefits harder to access, coordinate, and rely on when they need them most.
High-Risk Pregnancies Drive Up Costs
More than half of benefits leaders — 57% — say high-risk pregnancies have increased healthcare costs for their organization. In response, 93% of employers report taking active steps to manage these costs. Common measures include expanding care coordination, adding mental health support, and increasing virtual maternity care options.
Despite these investments, employee awareness of pregnancy risk factors remains limited. Only 3.5% of employees correctly identified all factors that can make a pregnancy high-risk. Consequently, many employees do not recognize their own risk early or know when to seek additional care.
AI Is Changing How Employees Seek Care
AI is already influencing how employees make health decisions. Notably, 81% of employees have used AI to find health information. In addition, one-third (33%) report taking action based on AI-generated guidance. These actions range from starting or stopping a medication to scheduling a doctor’s appointment.
Employers see real potential in this shift. 71% believe AI can help employees find information more quickly and easily. At the same time, concern remains high. A significant 88% of HR leaders worry that employees may make decisions based on inaccurate AI-generated health information. This tension between opportunity and risk defines one of the most pressing challenges employers face today.
GLP-1 and HRT Ads Shape Employee Expectations
Direct-to-consumer health advertising is increasingly shaping care decisions. 70% of employees report taking action after seeing an ad for hormone replacement therapy. Similarly, 61% say the same after seeing an ad for GLP-1 medications, often before engaging a clinician or an employer-sponsored benefit.
As a result, expectations for coverage are rising sharply. 53% of employees believe employers should cover HRT, and 47% say employers should cover GLP-1 medications. Employers are responding: 44% have added or expanded GLP-1 coverage, and 51% have added or expanded HRT coverage in their benefits programs.
Access Barriers Delay Essential Care
Access challenges continue to delay essential women’s and family healthcare. More than one in four women (27%) report delaying or skipping routine women’s healthcare in the past year. Logistical barriers, rather than lack of need, drive most of these delays.
Among those who delayed care, 53% could not find an appointment time that worked. Additionally, 39% faced long wait times, and 24% cited transportation challenges as a key barrier. Employers feel this impact directly. 75% of HR leaders in the U.S. express concern about declining access to maternity care due to hospital or provider closures. In response, 50% are expanding or changing benefits to improve access, while another 41% are actively considering similar changes.
What Employers Can Do Next
The report makes clear that adding more point solutions does not automatically improve employee confidence or outcomes. Instead, employers need integrated platforms that make benefits easier to navigate, coordinate, and use at critical life moments.
Maven works with more than 2,000 employers and health plans globally to support women and families from preconception and pregnancy through returning to work and navigating menopause and midlife. When care is easier to access and better coordinated, outcomes improve significantly. Employers who partner with Maven see up to 2x clinical savings and 4x combined clinical and business savings. Employees benefit from better experiences, including a 27% reduction in NICU stays and a 94% return-to-work or planned return rate.
About Maven Clinic
Maven is the world’s largest virtual clinic for women and families. Its award-winning digital programs provide clinical, emotional, and financial support on a single platform. Coverage spans fertility and family building, maternity and newborn care, parenting and pediatrics, and menopause and midlife. More than 2,000 employers and health plans trust Maven to improve clinical outcomes, reduce costs, and promote benefits equity. Founded in 2014 by CEO Kate Ryder, Maven has raised more than $425 million in funding from top investors including General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Dragoneer Investment Group.
