{"id":31632,"date":"2026-07-23T21:47:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/?p=31632"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:47:52","slug":"womens-health-benefits-mainstream-new-standard-of-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/blog\/womens-health-benefits-mainstream-new-standard-of-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Health Benefits Have Gone Mainstream.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0Time for a New Standard of Accountability."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Katie Higgins, Chief Commercial Officer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months in rooms with HR and benefits leaders. At conferences, dinners, one-on-ones. And lately, the conversation has shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, much of that conversation was about making the case \u2014 that women’s health benefits were essential for recruitment and retention; that fertility coverage isn’t a perk but a clinical need. That argument has largely been won. These benefits are now table stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conversation today is different. With healthcare costs continuing to rise \u2014 and CFOs scrutinizing every line of spend \u2014 the question is no longer should we offer these benefits? <\/em>It’s how do we know they’re working?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is a benefit working if it\u2019s \u201csticky\u201d and employees like it? If utilization is high? Or does working mean something more specific \u2014 that members are getting the right care, that clinical outcomes are improving, and that the investment is delivering measurable economic value? Because those are very different standards. And right now, too few benefits are being held to the right one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Time to Rethink and Redefine “Value”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Progyny recently partnered with global survey leader Dynata to find out the latest priorities of employers, and the results from the 200 employers reflect the tension of this inflection point. Women’s health and family-building benefits are clearly going mainstream, with most employers now offering core benefits and planning to prioritize them in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while 51% say their benefits meet employee needs “very well,” nearly as many (48%) report lingering gaps in depth, coordination, and consistency across different life stages. Employers have adopted solutions to cover discrete moments \u2014 fertility, maternity, occasionally menopause \u2014 but the full journey, as experienced by members, often remains fragmented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

61% point to lack of ROI as a persistent problem, and 74% report moderate to high point solution fatigue. The data shows employers plan nevertheless to keep adding solutions \u2014 but what I’m hearing on the ground is something different: growing impatience and demands for clear value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which raises the central question: what does “value” actually mean here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I owe my working definition of value to Jim Winkler, chief strategy officer of the Business Group on Health, who captured it most succinctly: value means clinical outcomes that drive an economic impact that work well for the member. Three requirements, each essential:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. It’s not enough for a benefit to be \u201csticky\u201d and liked by members \u2014 though member experience is critical.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. It’s not enough to point to enrollment numbers or app downloads.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What matters is whether the benefit produces better clinical results, whether those results translate into real economic impact, and whether the experience is good enough that members engage when it matters most.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    At Progyny, value starts with clinical outcomes<\/a> validated for every patient: a 23% higher live birth rate, 41% fewer retrievals per live birth, a 61% lower multiples rate \u2014 driving roughly 30% in employer cost savings. Results that are repeatable, backed by the industry’s largest sample size, and grounded in a decade of relentless commitment to the member experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And, while compounded costs for sponsored plans in the US rose 27% from 2022\u20132025, Progyny’s rose just 5% over the same timeframe. So, with HR leaders being called to the mat by their CFOs, I understand the pressure \u2014 but I feel confident Progyny’s clients are getting the year-over-year outcomes and value they\u2019ve come to expect from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019ve Seen This Pattern Before in Digital Health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    This moment in women’s health and family building benefits should look familiar to anyone who’s watched digital health evolve. First comes early adoption. Then proliferation of offerings as vendors stake out their piece of the lifecycle, and employers assemble best-of-breed portfolios hoping the whole adds up to more than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And then the evidence catches up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One of the most instructive examples comes from outside women’s health. In 2024, the Peterson Health Technology Institute<\/a> assessed eight widely used digital diabetes management tools. Their conclusion was stark: most failed to deliver meaningful clinical benefits and even increased healthcare spending. Only one demonstrated genuinely differentiated clinical impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Among employers and health plans, the report validated what many had already suspected: engagement metrics are not outcomes. Member satisfaction is an important goal, but it is clinical impact that drives economic value. In a reality where employers are investing in health solutions to achieve a sustainable cost equation for their benefits, the burden of proof needs to be fundamentally higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After years of explosive growth, women’s health is now in a similar spotlight. And despite nearly 3 out of 4 employers reporting point solution fatigue\u2026roughly the same number (76%) are looking to add point solutions with proven results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How Vendor Sprawl Opens Accountability Gaps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    So, what\u2019s the reality of how this plays out for an employer? Here’s one scenario I’ve seen more than once. A large employer invests in myriad solutions \u2014 a fertility benefit here, a maternity or parenting solution there. On paper, it looks comprehensive. In practice, costs keep climbing. And when they ask their vendors why, no one can tell them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why? The answer is as simple as it is complicated. When multiple vendors touch the same population, accountability diffuses. Whether outcomes are good or bad, it can be difficult to attribute the source of impact and the levers driving results. Despite all the investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The same dynamic compromises member experience. I’ve talked to employers sending hundreds of benefit-related communications a month \u2014 each vendor optimizing for its own engagement metrics, with no coordination. When everything competes for attention, what matters most gets lost. The member experience becomes noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Women\u2019s health and family building are not episodic or transactional experiences. They are deeply personal lifelong journeys that require a whole-person, relationship-based approach to care. At Progyny, that differentiation shows up not just in our member-centric focus across the full journey \u2014 from preconception through menopause \u2014 but in how we measure and report it. Because you can’t improve what you don’t track, and you can’t be accountable for outcomes you don’t own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Delivering Value Requires Aligning Every Part of the Care Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    It’s worth stepping back to recognize what this industry has accomplished. When Progyny was founded a decade ago, comprehensive fertility benefits were rare. Postpartum care was an afterthought. Today these benefits are mainstream and expanding into every corner of the economy. As our survey reveals, even slower moving sectors like manufacturing these benefits have increased in importance by 85% since just last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But sustaining that progress requires going deeper. Solutions can’t deliver patient-level outcomes if they don’t go deep enough to align all the stakeholders and components of the care journey. The clinical model, the member experience, the provider network \u2014 every piece has to be deliberately reworked and aligned for the cost equation to actually work. That’s what Progyny has spent a decade doing, and it’s why we can stand behind our outcomes and cost trend data with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The conversation in the rooms I spend time in has shifted because something real is changing. The reckoning is here \u2014 and for the women and families these benefits are meant to serve, that’s not a reason for alarm. It’s a reason for optimism, if we rise to meet the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Interested in seeing how Progyny\u2019s integrated care model delivers better outcomes and measurable value for employers and members?<\/h4>