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Big U.S. employers expect median healthcare costs to rise 9 percent in 2026, according to new survey data from the Business Group on Health. That’s up from a forecast predicting an 8 percent employer increase for 2025, and it appears to be the biggest annual increase that employers have forecast since 2010, when the Business Group on Health began conducting employer expectation surveys.
The Washington-based organization’s latest survey received 121 responses from large U.S. employers, which provide health coverage for about 7.4 million people. From these companies’ perspective, the biggest drivers of next year’s cost increases will be the high cost and increasing use by plan participants of GLP-1 agonists like Wegovy and Zepbound, as well as other expensive weight-loss treatments; increased use of other high-cost treatments; and an increased prevalence of mental health conditions.
The Business Group on Health found that if participating employers were trying to keep health costs flat, 34 percent would cope by bargaining harder with vendors. About 22 percent would limit or reduce coverage for GLP-1 agonists and related medications. And roughly 3 percent would strongly consider eliminating their current health benefits programs and providing stipends that workers could use to buy their own individual health coverage.
The survey also revealed one area in which U.S. businesses expect to increase coverage next year: About 43 percent of the employers surveyed will cover all breast cancer screenings in 2026, including follow-up ultrasounds and mammograms, as preventive care. That’s up significantly from 25 percent this year.
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From: BenefitsPRO
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