Employer Health Costs Set to Jump 9.5% in 2027, Aon Says

A Steep Climb in Employer Health Spending

Employer-sponsored health insurance costs in the United States are projected to rise by roughly 9.5 to 10 percent in 2027, according to a new risk analysis from Aon, the global insurance broker and benefits consultancy 1467. That increase would push average per-employee healthcare costs above $19,000, marking one of the steepest annual jumps employers have faced in more than two decades 57. Axios and other outlets note this would be the second consecutive year of near double-digit increases, suggesting the trend is not a one-time spike but part of a sustained affordability squeeze 2.

What's Driving the Increase

Aon attributes the surge to a combination of rising medical utilization and the growing cost of high-priced specialty drugs, factors that have compounded rather than eased in recent years 7. While employers typically absorb the bulk of premium costs, the financial pressure is increasingly trickling down to workers through higher paycheck deductions, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses 35. The Wall Street Journal frames 2027 as shaping up to be the worst year yet in this multi-year run of escalating costs, with both employers and employees bracing for the impact 5.

Premiums Now Rival Housing Costs

Perhaps the most striking comparison to emerge from this coverage is that the total cost of employer-sponsored family health insurance has now surpassed the median monthly mortgage payment for recent homebuyers 3. Even though employers continue to shoulder most of that expense, the sheer scale of the comparison underscores how significantly healthcare has come to rival housing as a dominant household and corporate expense.

A Broader Affordability Crisis

The employer-market trends align with mounting strain elsewhere in the health insurance system. Policy experts describe the Affordable Care Act marketplace as facing its most serious affordability crisis since coverage expansion began over a decade ago, with rising premiums threatening to push healthier enrollees out of the risk pool in a pattern often called a "death spiral" 8. That dynamic is already playing out on the ground: in Pennsylvania, thousands of residents have dropped coverage purchased through the state's Pennie exchange as costs climbed faster than even experts had anticipated 9.

Why It Matters

Taken together, the reporting paints a picture of a healthcare cost crisis spreading across both employer-sponsored and individual marketplace insurance. Rising medical utilization, expensive new drugs, and shrinking risk pools are converging to make coverage less affordable for millions of Americans, regardless of whether they get insurance through work or the ACA exchanges. With Aon's projections signaling no relief in 2027, employers will likely face difficult decisions about shifting more costs onto workers, while policymakers confront renewed pressure to address marketplace instability before enrollment losses accelerate further.