Health care costs continued to climb at alarming rates: The time is now for employers to drive change through quality.

2024 Year in Review icon

December 11, 2024


While health care costs have long been a concern for employers, the results from our 2025 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey were stunning. 2024 health care cost trend projection before plan design changes was +7.2% and projected to rise 7.8% in 2025, the highest rate of increase in more than a decade. The compounding effect of continued annual cost increases poses significant challenges for employers. Employers struck a balancing act of striving for near-term cost improvement while pursuing higher-quality programs and solutions, all while holding vendor partners accountable.

Employers re-examined vendor relationships in search of greater efficiency, fewer siloes and better overall outcomes, a key focus of much dialogue and learnings during our 2024 Annual Conference, in our Institute, Committee and Forum meetings, as well as during webinars and discussions throughout the year.

Addressing health care cost and quality issues were topics across many of our forums, in particular within our Cost & Delivery Institute, Executive Committee on Value Purchasing, Pharmacy Benefits Committee and Evidence-based Benefit Design Committee.


Equally important is the continued drive toward value. Investment in high-performance networks and centers of excellence (COEs), advanced primary care’s increasingly important role and employer prioritization of patient outcomes, particularly for high-cost chronic conditions, were covered in several of our guides and resources. Employers Driving Change Now and Into the Future is a call-to-action exploring the critical role employers play in driving the market forward, including the push for more effective value-based care arrangements and alternative payment models, which marks a shift from fee-for-service models to payment structures built on quality outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Multinational employers eyed value-based care through purchasing agreements, globally consistent design strategies, providing on-site high-value care directly and ensuring access to high-quality provider networks. Our resource entitled Driving Value in Health Care Around the Globe details how to build a global value-based care strategy. Global employers also looked to captive insurance to overcome funding barriers.


Business Group Insights

Read Read Read Read Podcast
2025 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey Optimizing a Captive Approach for International Employee Benefits Value-based Purchasing Employer Guide Employers Driving Change Now and Into the Future On the Frontline: Employers as Health Care Activists

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Resource icon_right_chevron_dark Cost Management icon_right_chevron_dark Vendor Management icon_right_chevron_dark Primary Care icon_right_chevron_dark
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