(CNN) – Open enrollment is back – a time when people can enroll, renew or change health care plans for the upcoming year – but no matter whether you choose a health care plan through your employer or the Affordable Care Act, most will suffer sticker shock.
“The total health cost of health benefits is going to rise by 6.5% next year, and that is the highest increase we’ve seen in 15 years,” said Beth Umland, the director of Employer Research for Health and Benefits at Mercer.
Umland said employees will feel it through paycheck deductions as employers may shift more health care costs to staffers.
“The same healthcare service and good that you bought last year is going to be higher,” she said.
A survey by non-partisan health policy research group KFF found weightloss drug use is driving costs up for some larger firms.
“Many of those employers told us that their spending was higher than they expected and that the GLP-1s was making up a big part of their prescription drug spending,” said Matthew Rae, associate director of KFF’s Healthcare Marketplace Program.
Marketplace customers could also see premiums more than double next year if Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credit expire.
“We’ve been paying about $650 a month, and according to the new premiums, they would go up to about between $1,900 to $2,000 for the same plan,” Michelle Mazur said.
Mazure is a small business owner and she and her husband are facing tough choices.
“It would either be me re-entering the workforce and shutting down my small business, or he needs to come out of retirement and go back to work,” she said.
So, what can consumers do to navigate the costs?
“It’s kind of a joke that people typically spend less time picking out a health plan than picking out a television, but this would be a year to really focus in on all the options,” Umland said.
Copyright 2025 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
