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CFOs face steeper employer health benefit cost pressures into 2027
Mercer, now part of Marsh, says health benefits are among the top three operating expense concerns for 33% of finance leaders, up from 19% in 2024.
Finance leaders are taking a larger role in managing employer health costs, and brokers are increasingly positioning benefits advice for CFOs, according to Insurance Business.
Brown & Brown said it joined Financial Executives International's Strategic Partnership Program, bringing its employee benefits team in front of corporate finance executives as industry surveys show mounting pressure to manage health-related expenses.
A Mercer survey, now under Marsh, found 33% of finance leaders rank health benefits among their top three operating expense concerns, up from 19% in 2024. Only about one in four said their organization absorbed benefit cost increases over the past two years without effects such as slower wage growth, reduced hiring, or higher prices.
Marsh preliminary survey results project employer health benefit costs rising 8.2% in 2027, the largest increase in 24 years even after cost-cutting, and WTW projects a larger 11.1% increase for 2027. Marsh's actuaries attribute about one percentage point each to GLP-1 weight management drugs, AI tools that support higher-coded claims, and No Surprises Act payment disputes, with 2.6 million disputes filed in 2025 versus federal projections of roughly 22,000 a year, according to Georgetown University research published in Health Affairs.