Healthcare Finance News September 8, 2025
2026 will be the fourth consecutive year of elevated health benefit cost growth following a decade of moderate increases.
Employers are anticipating healthcare costs to increase substantially in 2026.
A new Mercer study adds evidence to this projection, predicting that health benefit costs per employee will rise by an average of 6.5% next year.
That’s the biggest price increase since 2010, the data showed. Employers estimate that plan cost would increase by nearly 9%, on average, if there was no action to lower costs. These projections are based on over 1,700 U.S. employers that responded to Mercer’s 2025 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans by Aug. 12.
Based on the projections, 2026 will be the fourth consecutive year of elevated...
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