Employers plan to shift more health care plan costs to employees for the 2026 plan year, according to a survey by Mercer, which is part of Marsh McLennan, a global leader in risk, strategy, and people. Employers projected that average health benefit costs for the 2025 plan year will increase about 5.8% compared to costs for the 2024 plan year. More than half (51%) of large employers (with 500 or more employees) said they were likely or very likely to shift costs to employees by raising deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums, according to the report. By comparison, in the 2024 survey, 45% of large employers said they were likely to shift health plan costs to employees.

About 35% of large employers said they intended to offer a non-traditional medical plan option, such as a national carrier high-performance network, an independent vendor high-performance network, some other high-performance network plan, or a variable copayment plan. About 29% said they are considering offering a non-traditional option. The remaining 36% said they are not considering these options.

The report described the network options:

• A national carrier high-performance network, as described in the report, typically is a subset of providers in the carrier’s broader network that were selected on the basis of quality and cost.
• An independent vendor high-performance network is offered by a specific provider organization. The product differentiators for these new, smaller vendors are considerably different from the major carriers’ and from each other, but many include a focus on primary care and virtual care.
• An independent vendor high-performance network is offered by a specific provider organization, but does not function as a traditional
• Other high-performance network plans include traditional health maintenance organizations (HMOs), regional health plans, or reference-based pricing plans.
• A variable copayment plan typically has no deductible, or a low deductible, and has fixed copayments for services that vary by provider organization, based on their fees; members can see what the copayments will be in advance.

To improve affordability for employees, 12% of large employers plan to offer free employee-only coverage, excluding dependents, in at least one medical plan in 2026. About 37% of large employers plan to offer a plan with no deductible or a low deductible in 2026. About 8% plan to offer telemedicine services to employees not eligible for a medical plan. About 4% of large employers plan to provide no-interest or low-interest loans for medical expenses.

These findings were reported in Survey On Health & Benefit Strategies For 2026 by Mercer, a business of Marsh McLennan. The survey was conducted from April 8 through April 25, 2025. The survey was designed to discover how employers are addressing the recent acceleration in health benefit cost growth while maintaining healthcare affordability and ensuring the benefits package is inclusive, engaging, and promotes well-being.

Survey responses were received from 711 organizations: 29% had fewer than 500 employees; 47% had between 500 and 4,999 employees; and 24% had 5,000 or more employees. Mercer focused on the responses from the organizations with 500 or more employees.

The full text of Survey On Health & Benefit Strategies For 2026 was published on June 25, 2025, by Mercer. A free copy is available (accessed August 6, 2025). 

For more information, contact: Cassie Lenski, U.S. & Canada External Affairs and Media Relations Leader, Mercer, 1166 Avenue of Americas, New York, New York 10036; Email: cassie.lenski@mercer.com; Website: https://www.mercer.com/

October 2025     00US25EUA0040