Total health benefit cost rose 3.4% on average in 2020, reaching $13,674 per employee among all U.S. employer health plan sponsors with 50 or more employees, according to the annual Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2020.
Large employers (those with 500 or more employees) reported a cost increase of just 1.9%, their lowest increase since 1997, as plan members avoided health care facilities due to the pandemic.
Large employers typically self-fund their plans, which means they may see costs fall as utilization falls, unlike fully insured employers that pay a fixed premium. Survey results suggest that many large employers plan to use money saved in 2020 to invest in programs to support and engage employees in 2021.
We’ve seen an increase in HRIS services for large employers. This has been pertinent for our clients for uniformity and deploying cost reduction in most effective way possible as the industry adopts better systems
Ernie Sweat, Senior Counsel
