Results from our 2026 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey projected health care costs to rise 9% in 2026 – which on a compounded rate, is a total increase of 62% since 2017. As health care cost trends continue to soar year over year, the urgency for employers to explore bold and transformative strategies is high.

During our 2025 Annual Conference and in many of our in-person and virtual forums and committee meetings throughout the year, employers shared how they are raising the bar on addressing rising health care costs; by adopting innovative models, demanding greater transparency and accountability and collaborating with their partners on actionable solutions. Many looked to alternatives to traditional health benefit design, with the goal of higher quality and improved affordability through new models.

We addressed employer concerns by providing information and ideas on how to move forward with cost-saving measures. By offering these resources and opportunities, we led and supported employers as they navigated this challenging landscape:

Read:

Driving Value through Alternative Health Plan Strategies: Considerations for Employers. As the landscape of health plan options becomes more diverse, and cost pressures rise, employers are turning to new plan options and benefit designs to enhance their efforts to deliver greater value in their health care offerings.

Key Insight:

In an employer-to-employer sharing call, we brought together HR/benefit leaders to discuss challenges and opportunities with alternative health plan approaches. In another employer-to-employer sharing call, members discussed the impact of rising health care costs on the scope and focus of well-being leaders’ work and benefit offerings.

Read:

Prior Authorization: Benefits, Burdens, and Bold Ideas for Improvement. Prior authorization (PA) has long been a tool to assess appropriateness and drive utilization management. Understanding the challenges (and opportunities) PA presents for different stakeholders across the industry can lead to improved efficiency while helping employers remain steadfast to quality, cost and member experience goals.

Read:

Solving the Health Care Trend and Pharmacy Cost Crises. Employers are implementing new strategies for managing rising health care and pharmacy costs through bold, transparent and sustainable solutions.

Select Convening:

During gatherings of our Cost & Delivery Institute and Value Purchasing Committee, participants spent considerable time discussing impactful and proven strategies to improve care quality, effectively use data to measure outcomes and drive value in the benefit offerings.

Read:

Taking Action on Health Care Costs: A Business Group on Health Viewpoint. In this viewpoint, we provided insights and actionable ideas for employers managing short-term trend increases and driving long-term value.

Select Convening:

The Evidence-based Benefit Design Committee explored the growing scope and flexibilities of centers of excellence (COEs). The committee delved into the evidence-based criteria employers should consider when evaluating a COE network, discussed health plan and third-party vendor approaches, compared methodologies to calculate savings and provided guidance on driving utilization and ensuring a quality member experience.