The cost-shifting dynamic driving demand
Mercer’s 2025 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans projects health benefit costs will rise 6.5% per employee in 2026, the steepest increase in 15 years. Without plan changes, average cost growth would have approached 9%. The survey, covering more than 1,700 US employers, found 59% plan to make cost-cutting plan changes in 2026, up from 48% in 2025 – with cost-shifting to workers as the primary mechanism. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey found more than one-third of covered US workers already carry single-coverage deductibles of $2,000 or more. The Employee Benefit Research Institute found in November 2025 that employers see voluntary benefits as a way to help workers manage out-of-pocket costs, and that organisations without voluntary benefits reported higher group health insurance premiums and lower workforce productivity.
