Large employers forecast ‘daunting’ 9% hike in healthcare costs next year

Healthcare DIVE August 19, 2025
Rebecca Pifer

Employers surveyed by the Business Group on Health are bracing for the largest annual increase in healthcare costs in more than a decade.

Employers expect their healthcare costs to increase a whopping 9% next year, which — if the forecast pans out — would represent the largest annual increase in more than a decade, according to a new survey from the Business Group on Health.

Spiking pharmacy spending is fueling much of the cost growth, as are rising incidences of chronic and complex conditions like cancer. Employers expect to lower the cost increase to 7.6% through plan design changes.

But “the story this year is perhaps more daunting and sobering than it has ever been,” Ellen Kelsay, the president and...

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