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Employers less likely to act on health costs without full claims data

A 2026 survey of 408 employers found those with complete medical claims access use an average 11.9 purchasing strategies versus 7.9 for limited access, and employers expecting 9 percent or more cost increases showed no higher adoption.

Tuesday, August 18, 2026 · Written up by our desk · Health Insurance

Healthcare cost pressure alone does not determine whether employers change their health purchasing strategies, according to the 2026 Pulse of the Purchaser survey published by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. The survey found the stronger factor is whether employers can see their own claims data, and specifically whether they have full claims-level access.

The survey, which drew on 408 employer and purchaser responses fielded in May and June, tracked 26 hospital and high-cost-claim strategies. Employers with full claim-level access were more likely to use every one of the strategies, using an average of 11.9 strategies, compared with 7.9 for employers with limited or no access.

Employers’ expected cost increases were not a differentiator. HousingWire reports that employers expecting 9 percent or more in cost increases were no more likely to be using the 26 strategies, and the same was true for employers already paying above-average premiums.

Data access patterns varied by where claims data are stored. Three-quarters of employers store claims with their health plan or a third-party administrator, and that group reported the lowest complete medical claims access at 59.2 percent, while employers using independent data warehouses reported higher complete access at 85.9 percent for medical claim-level data and 84.1 percent for pharmacy claim-level data. The report also notes the findings are associations rather than proof of cause and effect.

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