Major US Corporations Are Reportedly Modifying 2027 Health Benefits to Offset Rising Medical Costs

Workers at major US employers could face higher premiums, narrower coverage and fewer benefits in 2027 as companies respond to sharply rising healthcare costs. Disney, Starbucks, Bloomberg and Deloitte are among employers changing benefits, while the City of Dallas is considering a new employee health plan that would eliminate one existing option.

Marsh projects employer health-benefit costs per employee will rise 8.2 per cent in 2027, the steepest projected increase since 2003. Without planned cost-containment measures, the increase would be 11 per cent, according to preliminary findings based on more than 1,800 US employers.

PwC separately projects a 9 per cent medical-cost trend for the US group market in 2027. Aon forecasts employer healthcare costs will rise 9.5 per cent, pushing average spending above $19,000 (£14,000) per employee.

The pressure is likely to become more visible during open-enrolment season, when workers choose plans and decide what they can afford. Employers are responding by changing plan design, increasing employee contributions and restricting some high-cost benefits.

The Benefit Changes Already Underway

The Walt Disney Company will stop offering medical coverage to employees' spouses who have access to health insurance through their own employers in 2027. The policy applies across Disney's US workforce of about 172,000 employees, although the number of spouses who will actually lose coverage is unclear.

Starbucks will end coverage for GLP-1 medications prescribed for weight loss from October 2026 for benefits-eligible employees. Coverage will remain available when the medicines are prescribed for diabetes and other covered conditions.

Bloomberg LP is introducing monthly employee premium contributions for the first time, according to reporting on its planned 2027 benefits changes. Deloitte will cut paid parental leave from 16 weeks to eight for employees in its 'Center' talent segment from January 2027.

Deloitte is also ending a $50,000 (£36,900) adoption and surrogacy reimbursement for that group, including IVF-related support. Pension accruals for Center employees will end after 31 December 2026.

In Dallas, the City Council is scheduled to consider the city's 2027 employee health benefits plan on 16 September. The proposal would discontinue the Blue Choice Copay Preferred Provider Organization plan for Texas-based active employees and pre-65 retirees. The plan has not yet been approved.

The changes are not identical, but they show how employers are using benefit design to contain rising healthcare costs.

Why Health Costs Are Rising

Healthcare costs are being pushed higher by increased use of medical services, expensive treatments and rising pharmacy spending. Aon says cost growth is increasingly being driven by greater utilisation, chronic conditions and high-cost claims.

GLP-1 medicines have become a particular pressure point. Marsh estimates that prescription use of the drugs will account for a full percentage point of overall employer health-benefit cost growth in 2027.

For employers, restricting weight-loss coverage can reduce spending. For workers who rely on the medicines, however, the change can shift substantial treatment costs from the health plan to the household.

Workers Have Limited Alternatives

A ValuePenguin survey of 2,001 US consumers found that 42 per cent could comfortably afford less than $100 (£73.89) a month for health insurance outside an employer-sponsored plan, while another 23 per cent could afford between $100 and $249 (£73.89 and £183.97).

The survey also found that 38 per cent of respondents who were not students, stay-at-home caregivers or disabled had remained in a job longer than they wanted because they or a family member needed health insurance.

That helps explain why benefit reductions can affect recruitment and retention as well as household finances. Workers who cannot afford an individual policy may have little practical alternative if their employer raises premiums or reduces coverage.

The ICHRA Alternative

Some employers are considering individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, or ICHRAs. Under these arrangements, employers provide reimbursements that workers can use towards individual health insurance premiums and other eligible medical expenses.

The 2026 EBRI-Morgan Health Employer ICHRA Survey found that just over one-third of employers were evaluating ICHRAs as a possible way to provide health benefits. The approach can give workers more control over coverage, but it also shifts more responsibility for comparing plans and managing costs to employees.

What 2027 Could Mean

Marsh found that 59 per cent of employers plan to make cost-cutting changes to health benefits in 2027, while about two-thirds of large employers expect to increase employees' share of premium costs.

The 8.2 per cent figure therefore does not tell the whole story. Employers may contain their own spending, but workers can still face higher deductions, deductibles, narrower coverage or the loss of particular benefits.

The central question is how much of the rising cost of healthcare will ultimately be passed on to the people who depend on their jobs for health insurance.