Infographic: State of employer health spend for 2027
Health care costs are rising. This infographic covers cost drivers and strategies to manage them while keeping benefits competitive.
As health care costs continue their upward climb, the medical cost trend for 2027 is expected to hit 9% — the highest in 17 years.1 Understanding the forces behind this surge is essential to keeping benefits both competitive and sustainable.
The cost picture is not being shaped by one issue alone. Specialty medications, behavioral health utilization, high-cost claims, chronic condition prevalence, provider reimbursement dynamics and administrative complexity are all adding pressure across employer-sponsored health plans.
Some of the numbers are especially hard to ignore: specialty medications account for 55% of total pharmacy benefit spend despite representing less than 2% of utilization, behavioral health disorder costs have risen 117% since 2019 and catastrophic claims costs increased 12.9% from 2024 to 2025, according to the 2026 Health Trends Report.2 Hidden pressures are compounding the challenges, with 25% of health care spending identified as wasteful or unnecessary3 and the No Surprises Act generating $22.4B in additional health care spending over its first 4 years.4
For those advising on or managing employer health plans, the takeaway is clear: rising costs are not driven by a single factor rather a compounding group of them, and no single strategy will counter them. The most effective approach combines affordability initiatives, care navigation and integrated benefit design to address cost drivers from multiple angles — helping employers hold the line on spending while maintaining the competitive benefits their workforce expects.
Download the infographic for a deeper dive of the cost drivers and strategies you can consider now to counteract the pressures at play today and in the future.
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