Healthcare Costs Are Rising in 2027. Is Your Benefits Strategy Helping Employees Afford Care?

Healthcare affordability is no longer only a question of what employers pay for coverage. It is also a question of what employees can realistically manage when they need care.

Mercer’s 2026 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans projects that average employer health benefit costs per employee will rise 8.2% in 2027, even after planned cost-reduction measures. In the same survey, 59% of employers said they planned cost-cutting changes, such as higher deductibles. Those are projections for employers, not a prediction that every employee’s premium will rise by 8.2%. But they help explain why affordability is now central to benefits conversations.

For an employee, the financial questions are immediate. What will come out of each paycheck? How much cash should be available for a deductible? Would an unexpected bill disrupt rent, debt payments or savings? Which benefits are worth using, and when?

A strong health plan matters. So does the employee’s ability to make informed decisions around it.

Coverage is not the same as affordability

An employer may offer multiple medical plans, a health savings account, an employee assistance program and a robust benefits portal. Yet an employee can still struggle to connect those offerings to monthly cash flow.

Consider a worker choosing between a lower-premium, higher-deductible plan and a higher-premium, lower-deductible option. The right decision depends on more than a plan comparison chart. It also depends on expected care needs, household savings, risk tolerance and the ability to absorb an unexpected bill.

This is where financial wellness can complement, rather than replace, benefits education. It gives employees a practical way to think about their financial picture when evaluating the options their employer provides.

The missing link is often financial context

Employees do not experience healthcare expenses in isolation. Medical bills compete with other priorities, including emergency savings, paying down debt, childcare and housing costs. For some, the challenge is not understanding what a deductible is. It is finding room in the budget to cover one.

PwC’s 2026 Employee Financial Wellness Survey found that 59% of respondents were currently stressed about their finances, and 53% had less than $5,000 set aside for emergencies. These findings show why the affordability conversation cannot end at enrollment.

Practical financial support can help an employee ask better questions: How large should my cash buffer be? Can I adjust my spending? How do I prepare for irregular expenses? What tradeoffs should I consider before committing money elsewhere?

Three steps HR can take without a plan redesign

1. Make total costs easier to understand. Help employees distinguish paycheck premiums from deductibles, copays, coinsurance and maximum out-of-pocket exposure. Provide clear plan comparison materials and direct coverage questions to the appropriate plan experts.

2. Connect benefits education to everyday financial decisions. Offer resources that help employees see what health expenses mean for their budgets and savings, rather than treating benefits selection as a once-a-year administrative task.

3. Measure whether support is reaching people. Look beyond email opens and enrollment completions. Track participation in financial education, common questions and anonymized feedback about employee confidence and understanding.

Why this matters when the budget is tight

Healthcare cost inflation cannot be solved with a budgeting app or a coaching session. But employers have another opportunity: help people make fuller use of the benefits and compensation already in place. That is why financial wellness often works as the glue holding your other benefits together.

Rolan Wealth is an employee financial wellness benefit that brings together a digital view of spending, savings and goals, AI-powered insights based on each employee’s finances, and 1:1 access to independent, commission-free CFP® professionals. Employers receive anonymized, aggregate engagement reporting, not access to employees’ private financial information.

For HR teams navigating 2027 renewals, that can make financial wellness part of a more practical affordability strategy: support employees between enrollment periods, when financial choices are actually made.

Next step: Explore how Rolan Wealth can complement your existing benefits, or book an introduction.

Caroline Zhu is the founder and CEO of Rolan Wealth.