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Benefits brokers are urged to target use of care, not just premiums
Employer health benefit costs rose 6.0% over the 12 months to June 2026, outpacing wage and salary growth of 3.1%, according to BLS data.
Employer costs for private-sector health benefits rose 6.0% in the 12 months to June 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index, more than double the 3.1% growth in wages and salaries over the same period, Insurance Business reports.
Paul Pruitt, founder of SHARx, argues many benefits brokers are pursuing strategies that focus on lowering the insurance price rather than changing how plan members access care, saying the price depends on utilization and care delivery.
He cautioned that treating GLP-1 medications as the source of the cost crisis is misplaced, noting he believes medication cost pressure has been building since the mid-2010s and that the demand surge became predictable once GLP-1s were repurposed for weight loss.
Pruitt said simply carving out GLP-1s or moving them into a health reimbursement arrangement can be a temporary fix with unintended consequences, adding that obesity and type 2 diabetes share root causes that the broader healthcare system often addresses by masking symptoms rather than behavior change. He also pointed to Morgan Stanley projections that orexin-based sleep therapies could reach $16.0 billion by 2035.