The overall well being profit value per worker is anticipated to extend by 6.5 p.c on common in 2026 — the best rise since 2010 — even after accounting for deliberate cost-reduction measures. That is based on a new report by Mercer, a world consulting agency.
Beth Umland, Director of Analysis, Well being at Mercer, and Sunit Patel, Accomplice and Chief Actuary of the US Well being & Advantages Actuarial Monetary Group, reported that employers estimated that plan prices would improve by almost 9 p.c, on common, in the event that they took no motion to decrease prices.
“Based mostly on projections, 2026 would be the fourth consecutive yr of elevated well being profit value progress following a decade of average annual will increase averaging solely about 3 p.c.”
Umland and Patel noticed that the survey discovered 59 p.c of employers plan to make cost-cutting modifications in 2026 — up from 48 p.c in 2025 and 44 p.c in 2024. Typically, the authors defined, these contain rising deductibles and different cost-sharing options, which may result in increased out-of-pocket prices for plan members after they search care.
Nevertheless, they famous that many employers may also search methods to gradual the expansion of prices with out passing the prices onto staff.
The projections have been based mostly on responses from over 1,700 US employers to Mercer’s 2025 Nationwide Survey of Employer-Sponsored Well being Plans.
