Major companies plan health benefit cuts for 2027, and it may cost you

Key Points:

• Major U.S. employers including Walt Disney, Starbucks, Bloomberg, Deloitte, and the City of Dallas plan to cut or alter health benefits in 2027 to curb rising health care costs, which are projected to increase around 9-9.5% next year.
• Changes include eliminating spousal coverage, increasing employee premium contributions, ending certain drug coverages like GLP-1 weight loss medications, and reducing parental leave and adoption benefits.
• These benefit reductions may significantly impact workers who already have limited budgets for health insurance outside employer plans, with many unable to afford more than $100-$249 monthly for coverage.
• Employers are shifting more health care costs to employees through higher deductibles and premiums, though experts argue this does not reduce overall health care spending but merely reallocates who pays.
• Alternatives suggested include companies adopting direct-to-patient drug purchasing programs for high-cost medications and transitioning to Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs), allowing employees to choose personalized health plans, though challenges remain in employee acceptance and cost certainty.