Aon projects U.S. employer healthcare costs will rise 9.5% in 2027, pushing average costs above $19,000 per employee, according to an Aug. 20 report from the professional services firm.
Five things to know:
1. The projected 9.5% increase would mark employers’ fourth consecutive year of near double-digit cost growth, per Aon’s Health Value Initiative, which tracks more than 1,100 employers covering 7.9 million employees and $135 billion in healthcare spending. Employer cost increases have more than doubled since 2022, rising from 3.7% to 8.8% in 2026.
2. Total plan costs rose 8.3% from 2025 to 2026, with employer costs up 8.8% and employee premiums up 6.4%, according to the report. The middle 50% of employers saw increases ranging from 5.5% to 11.5%.
3. Employers covered 82.2% of plan costs in 2026, while employees paid $5,297 on average — $3,130 in premiums and $2,167 out of pocket. Employee out-of-pocket spending rose 10.2% year over year.
4. Growing chronic disease prevalence, rising medical utilization and expanding specialty medication use — including GLP-1 therapies now prescribed for cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea and chronic kidney disease — are driving costs, along with high-cost claims growth and providers’ use of AI-driven documentation tools.
5. Finance and insurance employers saw the steepest 2025-2026 increase, at 9.8%, followed by technology and communications at 9.1% and the public sector at 8.8%. Healthcare employers saw the smallest increase, at 6.5%.
Read the full report here.
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