Another Year. Another Increase. Another Way.

Employer-sponsored health plan costs are projected to rise 9.5% in 2027. Before repeating the same strategy, employers should ask whether everyday healthcare access deserves its own place.

New research from Aon projects that U.S. employer-sponsored health plan costs will rise 9.5% in 2027 before additional employer cost-management efforts.

That would push the average cost above $19,000 per employee and mark the fourth consecutive year of healthcare cost trends approaching double digits.

For businesses already balancing payroll, hiring, retention, operations, and growth, healthcare is no longer simply a benefits expense.

It is a business-planning issue.

Employers Are Paying More. Employees Are Too.

Aon estimates that the average total health plan cost reached $17,562 per employee in 2026.

Of that:

• $14,432 was paid by the employer.

• $3,130 came from employee payroll contributions.

Employees then spent another $2,167 out of pocket, bringing their combined average healthcare spending to:

$5,297

That creates an uncomfortable reality:

A healthcare benefit can be expensive for the employer and still feel expensive to use for the employee.

Both sides feel the pressure.

What Could 9.5% Mean in Dollars?

Percentages can feel abstract.

Dollars do not.

Using Aon’s 2026 average plan cost, a simple 9.5% increase would represent approximately:

These figures are illustrations based on Aon’s national average—not forecasts for a specific employer. Actual costs and renewals will vary.

But for a company with 100 covered employees, the increase represents nearly:

$167,000

That money has to come from somewhere:

Benefits.

Operating margin.

Hiring.

Compensation.

Growth.

Or employees.

Before automatically absorbing or shifting the increase, businesses should ask what else belongs in the healthcare strategy.

Maybe the Next Lever Is a Different Layer

Employers are not standing still.

They negotiate, change carriers, redesign plans, adjust employee contributions, raise deductibles, and introduce cost-management programs.

Those strategies matter.

But even after cost-management efforts, Aon reports that average total plan costs still rose 8.3% in 2026.

The same levers only turn so far.

That raises another question:

Are employers asking one plan to do too many different jobs?

Major medical needs may include hospitalization, surgery, cancer, serious illness, and complex treatment.

Everyday healthcare includes primary care, urgent care, prescriptions, labs, counseling, preventive monitoring, and care navigation.

Both matter.

But they do not necessarily have to be approached through the same layer.

Everyday healthcare access can be evaluated as its own part of a broader strategy.

That is where HealthWise Direct enters the conversation.

Where HealthWise Direct Fits

HealthWise Direct focuses first on access to everyday healthcare.

Depending on the program, that may include:

• 24/7 virtual primary and urgent care

• Eligible generic prescriptions

• Eligible routine and diagnostic labs

• Virtual counseling

• Health monitoring and care management

• Care navigation

• Medical-bill advocacy

Included services are designed around $0 copays and no deductibles.

HealthWise Direct is not health insurance. It is a different healthcare approach, with different services, structures, and member responsibilities.

For employers, that makes everyday healthcare another part of the strategy to evaluate.

For Qualifying W-2 Employers

HealthWise Direct Enterprise begins with an Employer Eligibility & Financial Review.

The purpose is to determine whether an everyday-care layer may fit the company’s workforce and financial structure—not to assume the same answer works for every business.

For Contractors and Mixed Workforces

Traditional benefits do not always reach everyone contributing to a business.

Contractors.
Freelancers.
Part-time workers.
Seasonal workers.

Their employment structure may be different.

Their need for healthcare is not.

HealthWise Direct Group gives businesses another option to explore.

Depending on the structure, a business may:

• Pay the full monthly cost

• Contribute part of the cost

• Make access available voluntarily

This can extend healthcare access to more of the workforce without requiring everyone to fit the same benefits model.

Before 2027, Ask Better Questions

The conversation should not begin and end with:

Which plan should we renew?

It should also include:

• What are we spending today—and what increase are we expecting?

• How much are employees paying when they actually use healthcare?

• Who in our workforce is not reached by our current offering?

• Does everyday healthcare deserve its own place in the strategy?

This is not an argument that every employer should abandon what it already has.

It is an invitation to consider whether automatically repeating the same approach is the only option.

The Bottom Line

Aon’s projection does not predict any individual employer’s 2027 renewal.

And no single healthcare strategy can promise to eliminate rising costs.

But the trend is difficult to ignore:

Employers are paying more.

Employees are paying more.

And another year does not have to mean automatically repeating the same strategy.

Before 2027, employers should evaluate whether everyday healthcare access deserves its own place.

Have workforce?

Talk with a HealthWise Direct Employer Eligibility Agent

Evaluating healthcare for your contract employees or families? Read: Before Your Family Renews...

About the Aon Research

Aon’s projection is based on its Health Value Initiative database, representing more than 1,100 U.S. employers, 7.9 million employees, and $135 billion in 2026 healthcare spending.

The 9.5% projection reflects a status-quo environment before employers implement additional plan changes or care-management programs intended to reduce the increase.

Sources

Aon, U.S. Employer Health Care Costs Continue Multi-Year Climb, Projected to Rise 9.5% in 2027, August 2026.

Michael Popke, U.S. Employer Health Care Costs Projected to Climb 9.5% in 2027, August 21, 2026.

HealthWise Direct program information.

Important Information

HealthWise Direct Everyday Care is not health insurance. It provides direct access to specified healthcare services through contracted providers for a monthly fee.

It does not provide indemnification, reimbursement, or payment for medical expenses. No claims are submitted or paid, and there is no reimbursement for services obtained outside the program.

Where medical cost sharing is offered, it is not insurance. Medical cost sharing is voluntary, subject to applicable membership guidelines, and is not guaranteed.

Program availability, eligibility, pricing, services, and member responsibilities vary by offering and situation. Review applicable program materials and guidelines before making a decision.