For Maven Clinic, women’s health is moving deeper into employer-benefit strategy. The company will hold its inaugural Onward summit Sept. 30 in New York City as employers expand fertility, maternity and menopause support while facing rising costs and uneven employee confidence. The event puts that tension at the center of the discussion.

Key Takeaways

• Maven Clinic will hold its inaugural Onward summit on Sept. 30, 2026, in New York City, bringing together benefits leaders, health-plan executives, clinicians and healthcare companies.
• Maven’s 2026 survey found employers reported a 39% average increase in women’s and family health benefit offerings, while employee ratings of feeling “very well” supported declined by an average of 10%.
• Business Group on Health says 58% of surveyed employers will expand women’s preventive care in 2026, while 58% will provide menopause support programs.
• Mercer projects employer health benefit costs per employee will rise 6.7% in 2026, the highest increase in 15 years.

 

The New York-based company announced Onward on Aug. 17, with the first summit scheduled for Sept. 30 in New York City. The event is set to include employer representatives from Bank of America and Pinterest, along with clinicians, Maven executives and healthcare companies including Mirvie, Color Health and Juniper Genomics.

The scheduled agenda covers reproductive health, high-risk care, artificial intelligence in family health, menopause, hormone care and GLP-1-related issues in women’s health. Actress and health advocate Olivia Munn is also scheduled for a fireside conversation.

“The hardest problems in women’s and family health don’t get solved in silos,” Maven Clinic founder and CEO Kate Ryder said in the company’s announcement. She described the summit as an effort to put benefits buyers, healthcare providers and other industry participants in the same room.

Founded in 2014, Maven says it now works with more than 2,300 employers and health plans and serves more than 28 million covered lives worldwide. Its employer programs span fertility and family building, maternity and newborn care, parenting and pediatrics, and menopause and midlife health.

The expanded scope reflects an employer conversation that is no longer confined to pregnancy and fertility. Workplace concerns now extend to conditions and life stages that can affect access to care, attendance and employees’ experience at work. Research into menopause and work ability, for example, has examined how symptom severity, job demands and workplace flexibility can shape work experiences for some women.

The Benefits Gap Is Becoming Harder to Ignore

The central tension in Maven Clinic’s women’s health strategy is visible in its own research. The company’s 2026 State of Women’s and Family Health Benefits report compared responses from 2,071 HR and benefits professionals with 4,964 employees at companies with more than 500 workers. The surveys were conducted in November 2025 across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and India.

Maven reported that employers increased women’s and family health benefit offerings by an average of 39% year over year. At the same time, employee sentiment that those benefits supported them “very well” declined by an average of 10% across the categories measured. Because the research was commissioned by Maven and covers four countries, the findings should not be treated as a U.S.-only national benchmark.

The category-level results show why the gap is notable. Fertility offerings increased 40%, while employees’ perception of support in that category fell 11%. Parenting offerings increased 45%, while perceived support declined 4%. Menopause offerings rose 29%, while employee sentiment fell 9%.

Access is another part of the picture. Maven’s survey found that 27% of women reported delaying or skipping routine women’s healthcare during the previous year. Among those who delayed care, 53% cited appointment times that did not work, 39% cited long waits and 24% reported transportation difficulties.

Those findings point to a distinction between having a benefit and being able to use it. Similar workplace considerations can appear with conditions outside Maven’s core program categories. Research and reporting on endometriosis workplace support has also examined how health needs can intersect with scheduling, workplace accommodations and access to specialized care.

Rising Costs Are Raising the Standard for Women’s Health Benefits

The expansion is occurring while employers face broader pressure on healthcare spending.

Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans found that average health benefit cost per employee rose 6% in 2025. It projects a 6.7% increase for 2026, the highest rate of growth in 15 years, which would push average employer-sponsored health benefit costs above $18,500 per employee.

That cost environment gives benefits teams another reason to examine whether separate programs are being used and whether employees can navigate them effectively.

Business Group on Health data shows that employers are still expanding several areas of women’s health coverage. In its 2026 survey, 58% said they would expand preventive care for women. The same share said they would provide menopause support programs, while another 25% said they planned to expand menopause programs by 2028.

The trend reaches maternity care as well. The organization reported growing employer adoption of services addressing postpartum depression, high-risk pregnancies, doula coverage and group-based prenatal care.

Maven has also expanded beyond employer-sponsored access. In March 2026, the company announced a direct-to-consumer platform with virtual appointments across women’s and family health specialties, along with separate hormone-health and GLP-1 care offerings. The company describes the move as an extension of the care network it built through employer and health-plan relationships.

For Maven Clinic, women’s health is therefore becoming a test of more than benefit availability. Its September summit arrives as employers confront a harder question raised by Maven’s own data: whether broader benefit menus are producing an employee experience that matches the resources being offered. The answer will depend on access, navigation, cost and how effectively separate stages of care connect for the people using them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Maven Clinic?

Maven Clinic is a New York-based virtual healthcare company founded in 2014 by Kate Ryder. According to the company, it works with more than 2,300 employers and health plans and serves more than 28 million covered lives worldwide.

What Does Maven Clinic Cover in Women’s Health?

Maven Clinic women’s health programs include fertility and family building, maternity and newborn care, parenting and pediatrics, and menopause and midlife support. The company has also introduced direct consumer access to virtual care, hormone-health services and GLP-1-related care.

What Is Maven Clinic’s Onward Summit?

Onward is Maven Clinic’s inaugural industry summit, scheduled for Sept. 30, 2026, in New York City. Its agenda includes reproductive health, high-risk care, artificial intelligence, menopause, hormonal health and other issues affecting women’s and family healthcare.

Are Employers Expanding Women’s Health Benefits?

Business Group on Health says 58% of surveyed employers plan to expand women’s preventive care in 2026, while 58% will provide menopause support. Maven’s separate multinational survey also found employers reporting increases across fertility, parenting, menopause and other benefit categories.

Why Is Employee Access Part of the Discussion?

Maven’s 2026 survey found that some employees continued to report difficulty accessing routine women’s healthcare even as benefit offerings expanded. Appointment schedules, wait times and transportation were among the barriers reported by women who delayed or skipped care.