Finance chiefs are taking a bigger role in managing employer health costs, according to industry research, and brokers are taking their benefits advice to them.
Brown & Brown has joined Financial Executives International's (FEI) Strategic Partnership Program, putting its employee benefits team in front of corporate finance leaders.
FEI, an organization dedicated to advancing the success of financial leaders, their organizations and the profession, says it has nearly 10,000 members across more than 55 US chapters. They include CFOs, controllers and treasurers at public, private and not-for-profit organizations.
A survey of finance leaders by Mercer, which now operates as Marsh, found 33% rank health benefits among their top three operating expense concerns, up from 19% in 2024.
Only about one in four said their organization absorbed cost increases over the past two years without effects such as slower wage growth, reduced hiring or higher prices.
FEI's leadership points to the same pressure. "Benefits and healthcare costs sit squarely on the CFO's agenda, and our Members are looking for guidance they can act on," said Andrej Suskavcevic, CAE, president and CEO of FEI.
WTW reports the same shift. Tim Stawicki, senior managing director of health and benefits at WTW, said in an interview published this month that finance teams are becoming more involved in managing healthcare costs, historically not a primary focus for CFOs. WTW has projected employer healthcare benefit costs will rise 11.1% in 2027.
"If HR and finance can partner together, we can often come up with the best options," Stawicki said.
Preliminary findings from Marsh's National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans put the 2027 rise in employer health benefit costs at 8.2%, the largest in 24 years, even after cost-cutting measures. Without those measures, the increase would reach 11%.
Marsh's actuaries attribute about one percentage point each to GLP-1 weight management drugs, AI tools that help physicians submit higher-coded claims, and No Surprises Act payment disputes. Providers filed 2.6 million such disputes in 2025 against federal projections of roughly 22,000 a year, according to Georgetown University research published in Health Affairs.
Read more: Health benefit costs to jump 8.2% in 2027, highest since 2003
Josh Conklin, North American employee benefits sales leader at Brown & Brown, described the competing demands on employers.
"Finance leaders are increasingly being asked to manage rising healthcare and benefits costs while continuing to invest in programs that attract, retain, and support their people," he said.
The 1,241 US employers surveyed for Brown & Brown's Employer Health and Benefits Strategy Survey 2026 put cost containment at the top of their priorities.
It displaced attracting and retaining a competitive workforce, which led the inaugural 2025 edition, and respondents reported reviewing stop-loss structures, tightening audits and working with digital health providers.
Lockton's 2026 National Benefits Survey of 1,705 plan sponsors found a similar pattern. Some 54% ranked cost reduction as their top benefits priority, up from 38% in 2025, with talent attraction and retention falling behind it.
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Under the partnership, FEI members gain access to Brown & Brown's subject matter expertise, market intelligence and practical guidance on the financial and workforce implications of employee benefits and healthcare.
Topics include benefits strategy, funding and plan optimization, as well as healthcare cost management, forecasting and financial analytics.
Pharmacy, high-cost claims and emerging healthcare cost drivers are also covered, along with workforce, talent and total rewards trends and regulatory and compliance developments affecting employer-sponsored benefits. Where relevant, members may also reach other Brown & Brown specialists on related business and risk issues.
The global brokerage's benefits practice works with employers to design and deliver programs, manage healthcare costs and tie total rewards to wider business objectives.
"Through our partnership with FEI, we look forward to sharing practical insights, market perspective, and data-driven strategies that help finance leaders make more informed decisions about healthcare costs, workforce investment, and organizational performance," Conklin said.
The partnership follows Brown & Brown's appointment of Erik Templin as executive managing director for employee benefits across North America, placing the business under a single leader. Templin joined through a 2018 acquisition and reports to Retail segment president Steve Hearn.
Brown & Brown reported second-quarter revenue of $1.7 billion. First-half revenue rose 33% to $3.6 billion, driven largely by acquisitions, while organic revenue with contingents grew 1.6% over the same period.
