US employers expect to see biggest jump in healthcare costs in a decade next year

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Rep. Richard McCormick, R-Ga., a member of the GOP doctors caucus, discusses White House COVID protocols and questions surrounding Sen. Mitch McConnell's health.

Employers in the U.S. are expecting to see the largest increase in healthcare costs in a decade in 2024, according to forecasts from healthcare benefit consultants — although workers may avoid some of the increase due to the tight labor market.

Benefit consultants from Mercer, Aon and Willis Towers Watson see employers’ healthcare costs jumping by a range of 5.4% to 8.5% in 2024 because of medical inflation, high demand for expensive weight-loss drugs and the wider availability of high-priced gene therapies.

Over two-thirds of employers either don’t plan to shift any cost increases to their staff or will pass on less than the expected cost increase in 2024, according to a survey by Mercer, a unit of Marsh McLennan.

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«They don’t want to add more financial stress on employees who are also coping with inflation, especially in this time where they’re really relying on their health benefits as a way to keep employees working for them,» said Beth Umland, Mercer’s director of health and benefits research.

The U.S. economy has been confronted with high consumer prices over the last year amid inflation stemming from pandemic-era spending levels and supply chain shortages. Inflation ticked up to 3.7% over the past 12 months through August, down from a 40-year