The Role of the Employer
On the whole, survey respondents indicated that they are mostly satisfied with their health and wellness benefits. But that satisfaction comes with key caveats for employers.
Employees Paint a Complex Picture of Employer Benefits
While 92% of employees agree that health benefits are relatively easy to access when they need care, many still report difficulty fully understanding their benefits. This is particularly true when it comes to estimating costs, understanding covered services, and finding providers.
Of respondents cite challenges navigating employer-provided health benefits – including costs and covered services.
These responses suggest opportunities exist for employers to embrace more robust offerings to meet employee needs. For example, 87% of employees are comfortable with more personalized health offerings from their employers.
This personalization can take the form of tools and resources provided by employers:
- (88%) believe employers should provide health management tools and programs
- (73%) would be interested in AI tools from their employers
Additionally, employee responses point to another trend employers may want to keep an eye on: affordability.
Of respondents agree that rising healthcare costs have made it difficult for them to afford day-to-day expenses, including food, childcare, and rent.
Financial Stress and the Healthcare Landscape
Affordability remains a substantial issue for many. Rising healthcare costs are driving employees to pinch pennies in other aspects of their lives – with 47% of employees reducing or stopping their retirement contributions due to the financial burden.
While employees at very large companies tend to be more protected from this cost burden – with 39% saying healthcare costs have affected their ability to pay for food, childcare, or rent compared to 50% of employees overall – it’s clear that these stressors impact quality of life.
Employer Support Should Focus on Benefits that Provide Real Value
Employees showed a clear preference for employer benefits, support, and resources most likely to affect their quality of life.
That means prioritizing comprehensive health insurance, retirement offerings, and work arrangements or leave – as well as resources that could help them better manage stress, healthcare costs, and employer-provided benefits.
Employee responses showed less overall interest in benefits like wellness challenges, new-drug access, or educational content about health. With that in mind, employers may consider deprioritizing those elements of their benefits program in favor of more robust investment in the benefits and resources employees value most.
Top 5 Most Valuable Benefits for Employees
- Health insurance coverage
- Retirement benefits
- Flexible work arrangements
- Health savings accounts
- Paid family leave
Top 5 Most Valuable Resource Topics from Employers
- Caregiving responsibilities
- Managing stress, burnout, and mental health
- The cost of healthcare or health-related expenses
- Managing work-life balance
- Accessing new prescription drugs
My employer could significantly improve my overall well-being by offering student loan repayment assistance and a generous emergency savings match program, which would reduce my financial stress.
– Man, 45 | Medium-size Company
Key Takeaways for Employers
The survey findings indicate that employees are motivated and engaged in improving their health, but their ability to do so is constrained by the structure of work, financial pressures, and the complexity of navigating benefits and resources.
Employers have a key role to play in closing that gap by:
- Aligning support with employee needs: work-life balance, stress and burnout, affordability, and overall wellness
- Understanding how a personalized approach can better support employees, particularly those with caregiving responsibilities and chronic conditions
- Moving beyond static benefits toward more accessible, personalized tools
- Ensuring leadership and organizational norms reinforce these efforts
Ultimately, organizations that treat employee health as a leadership and operational priority, rather than a benefits offering, will be better positioned to meet this moment for employees.