Not one Oregon or Washington employer in a new survey dropped health insurance coverage in 2026. Dental and vision participation rose, too - dental to 97.5 percent from 92 percent from last year, vision from 88 percent to 95 percent.
The findings come from the 2026 Northwest Employee Benefits Survey, conducted by the Cascade Employers Association (CEA), a Salem, Oregon-based employer membership organization. The survey covers healthcare, retirement, paid leave, compensation practices, and workplace flexibility across Oregon and Washington state.
The coverage gains arrived against a difficult cost environment. Healthcare costs for employer-sponsored plans are projected to rise between 6.5 and 9.5 percent in 2026, according to separate forecasts from Mercer, Aon, and the Business Group on Health. That is the steepest projected increase in roughly 15 years.
For Northwest employers in the survey, employee-only medical premium contributions held virtually flat year over year.
Mercer's 2025 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans projected that the average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance would exceed $18,500 per employee in 2026, up from $17,496 in 2025. That national benchmark gives the flat Northwest contribution figures context. Employee contributions held steady in an environment where overall plan costs continued to climb, and redirecting money away from lower-priority programs was the trade-off.
That shift is visible in the perks data in the CEA survey. Gym membership benefits fell from 31 percent to 20 percent of participating organizations. Nutrition education programs dropped from 21 percent to 13 percent. Stress reduction programs declined from 18 percent to 13 percent. Commuter benefits fell from 14 percent to 6 percent. The pattern mirrors a broader national trend of employers trimming programs that compete with core healthcare spend.
Mental health coverage expanded the most sharply, rising from 83 percent to 95 percent of organizations. Telemedicine offerings increased from 61 percent to 73 percent. Contraceptive coverage rose from 74 percent to 88 percent. Naturopathic coverage increased from 64 percent to 75 percent.
Those movements run alongside a recognized national cost driver. The Business Group on Health's 2026 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey found that 73 percent of employers reported an increase in mental health and substance use disorder services, describing it as an emerging cost driver. Telehealth utilization has also grown as employers look to reduce expensive emergency and specialist visits. The cost offset for those gains came largely from reductions in gym, commuter, and wellness program spending.
The compensation data in the CEA survey shows a parallel trend. Organizations with established pay ranges increased from 71 percent to 78 percent of respondents. Those with no formal compensation structure declined from 19 percent to 13 percent. The move toward structured pay administration points to a broader effort to account clearly for total compensation costs as healthcare expenses climb.
Workplace flexibility data in the survey adds another dimension. Hybrid work arrangements stayed steady at roughly 65 percent of organizations. Remote work declined from 59 percent to 48 percent. Compressed work schedules grew from 36 percent to 50 percent, a gain of 14 percentage points in a single year.
Employers appear to be retaining flexibility as a retention tool while moving toward schedules that bring workers in more regularly. A compressed schedule offers an alternative to full-time remote work, a distinction that matters as more organizations push for greater in-person presence.
For brokers advising employer clients in the Northwest, the CEA data provides a concrete regional benchmark at a difficult moment in the renewal cycle. The Business Group's survey found that employers nationally expect healthcare costs to rise a median of 9 percent before plan design changes. On a compounded basis, costs in 2026 are likely 62 percent above 2017 levels, per the same survey.
Regional data is directly useful in that environment. A broker can show a client how their dental or mental health coverage compares to the 97.5 percent and 95 percent adoption rates now recorded across comparable Northwest employers. That kind of local benchmark shifts the renewal conversation beyond premium alone.
