Employers are preparing to shift more healthcare costs onto employees in 2027, just as new WTW research shows workers’ financial security at its lowest point in seven years, with many already putting off medical care because of the cost.
That collision is the central challenge for benefits strategy at the coming renewal. Mercer projects employer health benefit costs will rise 8.2% per employee in 2027, the largest increase since 2003, and 59% of employers plan cost-cutting changes such as higher deductibles. WTW’s 2026 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey suggests many employees are poorly placed to absorb them.
Only 36% of US employees feel financially secure, down from 46% in 2019 and 41% in WTW’s 2024 survey. Over the same period, the share reporting they are physically thriving rose to 64% from 54%, emotional balance edged up to 50% from 46%, and social connection to 43% from 41%. The US results draw on 6,000 full-time employees surveyed from February to May 2026.
“What stands out is how opposite financial security moved to everything else,” said Courtney Stubblefield, strategy and specialty leader, health and benefits at WTW. “Employees report being healthier, steadier and less isolated than they were in 2019. Money is the one place that progress did not follow, and it is the area employees now tell us they need the most help with.”
The cost pressure is showing up in how employees use their benefits. Nearly a third of workers put off or skipped a medical or dental appointment in the past year because of money worries. Among employees in their 40s, the least financially secure age group, about 41% delayed or skipped doctor visits, nearly double the 21% of workers aged 60 and older.
That matters for plan costs as well as for employees. Care that is put off can turn into larger claims later, so plan changes that push more costs onto employees could save money at renewal while adding to claims costs further out.
Only 30% of employees in their 40s feel financially secure, compared with 50% of those 60 and older. About 70% of those in their 40s and 50s expect a worse retirement than their parents had, and 47% of all employees say healthcare costs are a barrier to saving.
Financial distress also carries a measurable cost in the workplace. Employees under high financial distress are burned out at 46%, against 21% for those under low distress, and lose 23.6 days a year to absence and presenteeism, against 11.7 days. Nearly half (48%) are off track on retirement savings, compared with 10%, and 17% hold a second job, compared with 5%.
Retention may be at stake too. Alight’s 2026 US Employee Mindset study, released in early October, found 55% of employees with low financial wellbeing are open to other job opportunities, against 32% of those with high financial wellbeing.
“Employees should not have to choose between getting care today and being secure tomorrow, yet many are making that tradeoff,” Stubblefield said. “Financial wellbeing is not a standalone program off to the side. Benefits must be designed to reduce the toll financial distress takes on absence, health outcomes and retirement readiness.”
For brokers and advisors, the research gives shape to a difficult renewal conversation. Employers facing cost increases of 8% to 11% need to control spending, but simply raising deductibles risks deepening the delayed care and financial distress WTW describes, and the absence and turnover costs that come with them.
The more useful conversation is about how costs are shared and supported. Options include:
The 40s cohort is the clearest target. These employees are often managing housing costs, children and older parents at once, and they are the group most likely to skip care.
Employee priorities support that approach. Asked what employers should improve, US employees ranked core benefits first, ahead of choice, cost information, digital access and education. They named healthcare, retirement, paid leave, mental health support, and disability and income protection as the benefits that matter most.
There is also appetite for help. In Lincoln Financial research, 27% of stressed Americans want to act on financial stress but have not, and 64% of them say they need help getting started.
“Employees are open to support from their employers, both for help around how to save for retirement, but also as they are making their plans for retirement,” said Beth Ashmore, managing director, retirement at WTW.
