With the persistent rise in health care costs, U.S. employers of all sizes are focused on controlling costs while also making health care more affordable for employees.
Respondents to the 24th Annual Towers Watson Survey expect total health care costs (employer and employee) to rise 4.9% in 2020 after plan design changes, up nearly a full point from 4.0% in 2019. According to findings from the Towers Watson Financial Benchmarks Survey, the average cost of health care is $13,087 per employee per year (PEPY) in 2019 and is expected to rise to $13,728 in 2020. By point of comparison, the U.S. inflation rate is expected to average 1.8% in 2019 and to increase to 2.0% in 2020. Without plan changes, cost trend would be 5.0% in both 2019 and 2020.