SiriusXM is the leading audio entertainment company in North America, with approximately 160 million listeners every month and a workforce of over 5,000 people. When SiriusXM’s leadership team wanted to improve the organization’s family-building benefits, they partnered with Carrot: a global, comprehensive fertility and family care platform.
As a result of partnering with Carrot, SiriusXM saw an impressive return on their investment, saving millions of dollars by avoiding costs common in unmanaged fertility and pregnancy journeys, and improved the quality of care for their employees.
In 2023, SiriusXM’s benefits team identified an issue in their workforce: the growing need for better fertility and family care. “We noticed a lot more inquiries from employees coming into the benefits inbox talking about it,” said Alon Sendowski, SiriusXM’s Associate Director of Benefits.
“It was a challenge to attract and retain top talent, and we thought that this would help.”
We operate in a lot of metropolitan areas — locations where people are getting married later, settling down later, so that added to the sense of urgency,” Sendowski added.
This trend at SiriusXM mirrors a global decrease in fertility and birth rates, which has made offering high-quality fertility benefits a must-have for organizations. “It was a challenge to attract and retain top talent, and we thought that this would help.”
SiriusXM came to Carrot with two goals in mind. The highest priority was to improve outcomes for employees, and they also hoped to reduce costs for the business. Sendowski said they thought improving fertility care could be a win-win for the business and their people. “We noticed that claims were going up for [fertility and pregnancy] complications, and it just felt like the right time to explore our options.”
in savings for SiriusXM
Carrot’s clinical approach supports members attempting pregnancy through early engagement and guidance toward clinically appropriate alternatives to IVF (e.g., at-home ovulation tracking). This strategy lowers costs and improves pregnancy outcomes.
The impact of education can’t be overstated. Carrot reviewed SiriusXM’s members with an infertility diagnosis who connected with us early in their journey. What we found: 32% of members who proactively engaged with Carrot (at least 90 days before fertility treatment) achieved pregnancy without using IVF at all resulting in $230,000 in avoided costs.
Where IVF was necessary, SiriusXM also saw an 11% reduction in the number of costly IVF cycles needed to achieve pregnancy, which translates to a cost savings of over $320,000 for the organization.
Even within an IVF journey, there are innovative approaches that lower potential risks associated with it. Examples include single-embryo transfer (SET) and PGT-A testing: the implanting of one tested embryo, instead of multiple, during IVF.
SET reduces multiple gestation rates and maximizes the rate of singleton pregnancies, without compromising overall success rates. Singleton pregnancies are much safer than multiples, as they reduce the need for C-sections, NICU stays, and longer-term recovery care for parents and babies. In addition, national data shows that genetic testing of embryos prior to IVF (PGT-A) can increase pregnancy rates and reduce miscarriage rates in populations over 35.
SiriusXM members on IVF journeys, supported by their Carrot benefit, exceeded the national average with a 24% increase in pregnancy rates with the help of genetic testing.
As a result, Carrot greatly reduced the downstream risks — and costs — of IVF for SiriusXM through proactive member education about SET, as well as precision provider steerage to connect members with clinical experts. This approach enabled SiriusXM members to avoid potential multiple births for a projected cost savings of over $1.6 million driven by:
“Since we implemented Carrot, we’ve had 388 births at the company. That’s exciting for our employees, and good for humanity”
Thanks to SiriusXM’s vision and leadership to invest in better family-building care for their employees, the organization and its workforce have seen success in several critical areas:
These outcomes are particularly impactful in high-risk populations, such as those over 35, where multiples often result in significant clinical and financial burden. (The average age of SiriusXM employees in the journeys analyzed was 37.4.)
In addition to the measurable impacts, Sendowski shared that Carrot has brought peace of mind to the organization through “white-glove service,” quality provider matching, and resources for deeply personal questions and concerns. “It removes [the benefits team] from those complex conversations where an employee might need more support. We always have a great answer for them: ‘Go to Carrot.’”
As time goes on, the results of this partnership will continue to provide better outcomes for SiriusXM employees and deeper cost savings for the organization. This study is a shining example of how impactful better care can be — to both employee well-being and financial success.
“The outcomes are going to make it worth it.”
When asked what he’d say to businesses that are considering specialized fertility and family care for their teams, Sendowski had this to say: “Go for it. You’ll be surprised how much your employees will appreciate it, and the outcomes are going to make it worth it.”
Carrot analyzed SiriusXM member claims data (2021-2024) and linked it to Carrot collected medical records, program engagement, utilization, and eligibility. Analysis was done in 2 cohorts, evaluating the journeys of 80 SiriusXM members, with an average age of 37.4. Cohorts were adjusted for demographics, health risk and comorbidities, and geographical cost-of-care adjustments.
