Health Insurance Costs Set to Jump 11.1%, a Two-Decade High
Your paycheck is about to get a health-insurance haircut. Employers are staring down an 11.1% surge in 2027 health costs, the steepest jump in more than two decades, according to a new WTW survey. As insurers and hospitals raise costs, workers are bracing for the impact to trickle to their wallets.
- For a fourth straight year, employer healthcare costs will rise near double digits — now commanding $19K+ per employee, according to Aon.
- That comes as GLP-1 use jumped 75% among the consultant’s clients last year — compounding “unsustainable” costs from cancer treatments and specialty drugs.
Feeling it directly: As healthcare’s bite increases, employers and workers are fighting over what’s left. Workers are already footing $5.3K in 2026 for coverage, up 7.9% from last year. Harvard’s Michael Chernew notes healthcare spending has been outpacing income growth, squeezing every paycheck further. Small businesses aren’t spared either, with one West Virginia glassmaker now spending more on healthcare than it clears in profit. With little relief in sight for 2027, expect employers to explore network cuts and other cost-control moves, risking backlash from workers already stretched thin.