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Benefits consulting firm cited for the 6.7% 2026 employer health-cost projection, the $18,500-per-employee average and the finding that roughly three-quarters of CFOs rank healthcare a top-five operating cost concern.
Mercer's survey of 1,800 employers has benefit costs per employee rising 8.2% in 2027, the steepest jump since 2003. Two-thirds of large companies plan to raise the employee premium share, and one independent medical practice was quoted 22.5%.
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Pew asked more than 42,000 people what AI will do to employment, and the median answer was fewer jobs. TechSpot's reading of the tables puts the most AI-aware respondents among the most worried, and a Mercer survey puts executives at 99%.
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Mercer's survey of 1,800 employers puts health costs per worker up 8.2% in 2027, the steepest rise since 2003, and the $3.48 an hour employers already spend on health insurance comes out of the same budget as pay.
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The federal seed pays only when a guardian opens the account, so the employers now matching it have budgeted a per-child cost whose real size depends on how many of their own workers file the paperwork.
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Mercer sees employer health costs up 6.7% in 2026 to above $18,500 per employee, and half of large employers are already planning 2027 cost-shifts. The supplier has not been audited.
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