How Universal Music Group is driving better outcomes with clinically managed fertility care

Family building is among the most meaningful and often most complex experiences an employee can navigate. Yet for many, the journey can be overwhelming, fragmented, and financially burdensome. A single cycle of IVF can represent as much as 50% of an average person’s annual disposable income, and research shows that 70% of women who undergo IVF go into debt, with one in three forced to stop treatment altogether because it becomes unaffordable.

Against this reality, employers are increasingly asking how they can show up better for their people, and are rethinking how support is delivered by pairing access with clinical oversight and coordinated care.

What you need to know:

• Traditional fertility benefits often lack guidance and continuity
• Employees are left to navigate care, costs, and decisions on their own
• Unmanaged models can lead to over-treatment and inequitable experiences
• Clinically managed care from Maven provides structured navigation, better outcomes, and more predictable spend for employers.

In a recent conversation hosted by Maven Clinic, Julie Anderson, Senior Director of Clinical Outcomes at Maven, and Christopher Smith, Vice President of Benefits at Universal Music Group (UMG), came together to explore what meaningful, employer-led support can look like in practice. Rather than focusing on benefits in theory, they spoke candidly about real employee experiences, the limitations of traditional fertility coverage, and how clinically guided care can help remove friction, reduce inequity, and deliver better outcomes.

Their discussion offered a clear picture of what happens when employers move beyond access alone and invest in coordinated, clinically managed fertility and family building benefits, for both employees and the organizations that support them.

Why traditional fertility benefits aren’t enough

For many employees, traditional fertility care can seem like a maze; one marked by fragmented care, unpredictable costs, and ‘go-it-alone’ navigation.

Smith’s first-hand experience mirrors what many employees face today: before joining UMG, he and his wife navigated fertility treatment with limited support. He described the enormous emotional and logistical burden that came with trying to build their family without coordinated guidance.

“There were things I wish we had known before we started the process. There was the emotional toll of rounds of IUI not working. IVF being a struggle – and how do we even pay for it? We were using Google, calling friends, trying to piece it together.”

Navigating that maze exposed several core challenges employers and employees face today, which Anderson and Smith shared in their full conversation. 

A lack of cohesive, personalized support

Employees often don’t know where to begin, which specialists to see, or how to evaluate treatment options. Smith summarized the feeling many people express:

“How I wish there was a team of care, that army of support that could help to point us in different directions and have those meaningful conversations so we’re not just spinning our wheels, trying to do this on our own.”

This lack of guidance contributes to unnecessary appointments, higher costs, and emotional strain.

Over-reliance on IVF and the associated costs

Without clinical oversight, IVF often becomes the default treatment. However, IVF costs often exceed $23,000 - $25,000 per cycle, and fertility drug prices have risen 84% in the past decade.

As Anderson explained, “An unmanaged fertility benefit, which is really the most common in the industry today, often acts like that middleman. They connect employees to a fertility clinic, and then they get out.”

That unmanaged benefit leaves employees vulnerable to over-treatment, and employers vulnerable to unpredictable spending.

Higher clinical risk and poorer outcomes

When underlying conditions that affect fertility go unidentified or unmanaged, employees can be pushed into more intensive and costly treatments than necessary. Issues such as thyroid imbalances, PCOS, ovulation disorders, and mild male factor infertility are often missed early on. Without clinical oversight, these gaps can lead to multiple failed cycles, prolonged treatment timelines, tens of thousands of dollars in avoidable spend, and significant emotional fallout for employees.

Even once pregnancy is achieved, unmanaged or poorly coordinated fertility care can increase medical risk. Any conception through assisted reproductive technology carries additional medical risk. NICU stays, C-sections, multiple births, and maternal complications drive up costs and affect families long-term. Without appropriate vetting and ongoing clinical guidance, these risks are amplified rather than mitigated.

The difference between traditional fertility care and a clinically managed benefit

Traditional fertility care is typically built around access rather than guidance. Employees are connected to a fertility clinic through their health plan or benefit, but are largely left to navigate decisions, treatment pathways, and timing on their own. Clinical oversight is limited, care is often reactive, and treatment escalation, including IVF, can become the default rather than the most appropriate first step.

By contrast, clinically managed fertility benefits are designed to provide structure, coordination, and evidence-based oversight from the very beginning of the journey. Employees are supported by a multidisciplinary clinical team that assesses underlying health factors early, guides treatment decisions, and stays involved throughout the process, from preconception through pregnancy. The focus is on identifying the safest, most effective path to pregnancy, reducing unnecessary interventions, and improving outcomes for both families and employers.

For the full conversation and deeper insights, watch the recorded webinar.

Why Universal Music Group expanded its partnership with Maven

Universal Music Group has been a Maven partner since 2019. Over the years, employees have embraced Maven as a trusted resource across the family-building spectrum. For Smith, expanding to Maven’s Managed Benefit was a natural next step, one rooted in the company’s benefits philosophy of access, equity, and ease.

“I thought we could strike all of those things by aligning to a single partner… creating that center of excellence, that one-stop shop for employees and families to help them navigate an already overwhelming journey.”

Employees reinforced the value. Smith shared one story of a parent who used Maven for breastfeeding support and became one of the program’s strongest advocates. The unsolicited praise was a signal that the partnership was working.

More importantly, clinically managed care gives employees the structured guidance they need; the very support Smith once wished for in his own journey.

A more equitable, structured benefit

Before transitioning to clinically managed care, UMG offered a $30,000 fertility stipend through its medical plan. However, the geographic variation in treatment costs meant employees in high-cost areas ran out of funds long before others, resulting in inequities and desperate attempts to maximize remaining dollars.

By moving to a cycle-based benefit with Maven’s oversight, UMG is looking to create an even more equitable structure, where employees get what they truly need, not just what their zip code allows.

The outcome: better experiences, stronger support, and a clearer path forward

UMG's decision to adopt clinically managed fertility benefits is grounded not only in compassion but also in data-driven insight.

Through claims reviews, employee feedback, and national trends, UMG saw a clear pattern prior to implementing the more modern benefit:

• High-cost maternity and NICU claims were recurring
• Employees wanted clearer navigation and a more cohesive experience
• Competitors were expanding fertility benefits
• A structured approach would reduce waste and improve outcomes

Today, Smith’s key driver remains the employees themselves and the families Maven has helped grow.

How clinically managed care changes the story

Maven’s clinically managed care model is designed to solve these issues at their root. Instead of simply connecting employees to a fertility clinic, Maven surrounds them with early assessment, dedicated care advocacy, and proactive clinical oversight from reproductive endocrinologists, OBGYNs, fertility educators, mental health providers, and other specialists.

Anderson illustrated the difference through the story of “Maya,” a 34-year-old employee who underwent two failed IVF cycles, each costing more than $25,000, while no one noticed a simple thyroid imbalance. Under clinically managed care, this would have been caught early, potentially eliminating the need for IVF altogether.

This approach offers:

• Early engagement, so employees are evaluated before entering treatment
• Continuous clinical oversight throughout the journey
• Care advocacy to help employees navigate appointments, specialists, and decisions
• Evidence-based guidance that reduces unnecessary or risky treatments
• A focus on the safest, fastest path to a healthy pregnancy

The result? Better experiences, better outcomes, and more predictable spending. Across Maven’s clinically managed programs, the impact is clear:

• Nearly 30% of those seeking fertility support have pregnancies that occur without IVF
• IVF pregnancy success rates reach 66%, compared to the 54–55% national average
• 96% of members value their employer more for offering Maven
• 88% report being more productive at work while navigating fertility treatment
•  $8,200 is saved per birth across fertility and maternity claims

For employers, this means not just reduced medical spend, but stronger retention, higher engagement, and a healthier workforce. As Smith emphasizes:

 “I do believe that there is no better story or no better way to tell a story than with data, and I do encourage people to really, lean in on your data, analyze, and go beyond the numbers.”

For benefits leaders, that means evaluating not only the financial return, but also the return for value; the emotional burden eased, the time saved, the families supported, and the moments that matter made possible through clinically managed care.

To see how Maven can help your employees access the compassionate, coordinated support they deserve, while delivering stronger outcomes for your business, book a demo with us today.