You’re going to pay more for health insurance in 2027 as employers see costs jumping for the fifth straight year

The health insurance deduction is one of the quieter numbers on a paystub, but next year, it could hit paychecks harder than inflation or taxes. 

Over 165 million Americans rely on employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, but it’s getting more expensive for employers to foot the bill. 

Mercer, a global consulting firm specializing in health benefits, projects healthcare costs per employee will jump 8.2% in 2027, the steepest increase since 2003 and the fifth consecutive year of elevated costs, according to a survey of 1,800 U.S. employers. But the number on employers’ books isn’t what workers will feel: Two-thirds of companies with 500 or more employees plan to raise premiums, meaning paycheck deductions will climb even faster than that 8.2% average. It’s coming out of your pay, in all likelihood.

“The reality is this does eat into money that could be invested in wages,” Nick Stefanizzi, CEO of Northwell Direct, which provides health benefits to self-insured employers, told Fortune. 

Health insurance makes up almost a quarter of the benefits employers........

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