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Employers told Mercer they think that health benefits costs will rise an average of 7% in 2025, in the 2024 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.
Health plan design changes should hold the average net spending increase to 5.8%, the employers predicted. Employers are expecting the 2024 cost increase to be 7% and the spending increase to be 5.2%.
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That compares with a cost increase of 8.4% and a spending increase of 5.2% in 2023.
Mercer, the benefits arm of Marsh McLennan, based the predictions and estimates on survey responses from about 1,800 U.S. employers.
In 2023, health benefits costs for employers with 50 to 499 employees, which Mercer classifies as small employers, rose 7.8%, to $16,464 per employee. For employers with 500 or more employees, costs rose 4.6%, to $15,640.
Earlier in the year, PwC suggested that group medical costs could rise 8% in 2025, and the Business Group on Health predicted a 7.8% increase.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
