Health care costs associated with benefit programs are projected to increase by almost 8% in 2025. Inflation, rising pharmaceutical and treatment costs, and higher utilization of benefits are among the factors driving the average annual cost of health benefits per employee upwards of $16,000. With almost half of adults (43%) reporting that someone in their household has delayed medical care due to cost, these expenses could continue to rise.
For many small businesses, these increases will be financially untenable and pose logistical nightmares for large companies with diverse benefit offerings. Business leaders hoping to attract and retain top talent may be looking beyond raising employee contributions to offset these expenses. But benefits advisors can help guide their clients to consider whether they should absorb the cost increases, redesign their benefit offerings altogether, or both.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
