Employee Benefits Insights
Keep Benefits Competitive and Cost-Effective With Key Insights
MARCH 4, 2025
Healthcare costs for U.S. employers are expected to increase between 7% and 8% in 2025, driven by declining health and higher pharmacy spending. Employers struggling to manage higher costs often look at plan design changes or other significant cuts to benefits as a way to slash expenses. Unfortunately, many organizations don’t consider the impact on affordability or competitiveness until the changes have already been made. Before making any drastic decisions, employers should examine their existing benefits program to determine whether:
- The organization is overcontributing or spending more than it should.
- The benefits offered are competitive compared to other employers.
- The organization is offering the right mix of benefits.
USI can provide clear insights into benefits spending and utilization to help employers make informed decisions that optimize plan design and reduce spending.
What Does Total Employee Cost Tell You About Plan Usage?
Plan richness — which determines employees’ out of pocket costs — combined with payroll contributions determines the total cost of healthcare for your average employee. This example demonstrates that the individual coverage offered by the employer is less rich (with higher total employee costs) compared to the benchmark average. However, the family coverage offered by the employer is much richer than the benchmarks. This employer could consider charging more for dependent coverage while still remaining competitive.
How Do Your Benefits Compare?
Understanding where your plans perform well and where you can make impactful changes allows you to better align your benefits with your employees’ needs and expectations, which can often lower costs.
Every year, thousands of employers participate in USI Insurance Services’ Benefits Benchmarking Study, which provides a detailed look at benefit plan performance and actionable solutions to optimize plan design and spending. Participating employers are able to access the latest insights on:
- Cost-saving plan design and contribution strategies
- Which benefits would provide employees with the most value
- What similar organizations are offering to attract and retain employees
- Emerging benefits trends
The largest survey of its kind, USI’s Benefits Benchmarking Study uses current plan year information to evaluate the effectiveness of your offering based on hundreds of data points, including plan design and contributions, employer industry and size, location (local, state, regional and national), employee demographics, and benefits usage. USI uses these data points to generate a custom plan performance assessment and recommend solutions specific to your organization.1
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Interested in participating in USI’s 2025 Benefits Benchmarking Study and getting a plan assessment? Contact your local USI benefits consultant to request a survey link for your organization. |
What’s New This Year?
To accurately capture current trends and employer concerns, USI’s underwriting team makes continuous improvements to the Benefits Benchmarking Study. New questions in the 2025 survey examine how employers are addressing several high-cost challenges, such as:
- Improving retirement readiness
- Supporting working caregivers and families
- Helping employees navigate various pathways to parenthood
How USI Can Help
Taking a strategic approach to plan design allows your organization to offer competitive benefits and better manage operating costs. Contact your local USI benefits consultant or email ebsolutions@usi.com to learn more and request a survey link for your organization.
Source:
1 USI will begin to distribute plan performance assessment reports in May 2025. Contact your USI consultant to learn more.
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