Key Insight: Discover how rising healthcare costs are shifting employer benefits strategy toward financial resilience. What’s at Stake: Escalating premiums could increase turnover, reduce productivity, and raise employer cost exposure. Supporting Data: Average employer family premium hit $26,993 in 2025, up 6% year‑over‑year.
Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Growing economic uncertainty and rising medical costs are intensifying financial pressure across the workforce, according to new research from Prudential Financial.
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Nearly 70% of employees experienced at least some financial stress over the past 12 months, with 28% describing it as significant or overwhelming. Financial concerns are also affecting workers’ mental health: 45% of employees said their stress levels increased over the past year because of money worries, rising to 50% among Gen Z workers.
The findings come from the first installment of Prudential’s 2026 Benefits & Beyond study, “The Future of Work: Building Financial Resilience in an Era of Rising Costs,” based on January surveys of roughly 3,100 full-time U.S. employees and 760 employers.
The research was conducted before the outbreak of war in Iran and the resulting spike in gas prices, developments that have since added further financial strain for many workers.
“There’s economic uncertainty on a variety of levels,” said Jon Trevisan, vice president and head of distribution at Prudential Group Insurance. “The cost of everyday goods is going up. Interest rates are rising. Health care costs are increasing as well, and at a higher rate than in years past, which is causing a number of decisions to have to be made by both the employer and the employee.”
Impact of rising medical costs
Healthcare costs continue to climb faster than inflation, putting growing financial pressure on both employers and workers. The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $26,993 in 2025, up 6% from the previous year, according to KFF’s latest Employer Health Benefits Survey.
Average single coverage premiums also rose 5%, to $9,325 annually. Workers are paying more out of pocket as well, contributing an average of $6,850 per year toward family coverage premiums. Family health insurance premiums have increased 26% over the past five years and 53% over the past decade, according to KFF, outpacing overall inflation.
According to Prudential’s study, rising medical costs are affecting more than workers’ finances — they’re also taking a direct toll on overall well-being. Employees say higher healthcare expenses are significantly contributing to their financial stress (32%), while also negatively affecting their mental health (22%) and physical health (22%).
“The most successful organizations will likely take a holistic approach that balances managing costs with delivering meaningful benefits that support overall employee financial health,” Trevisan said.
Personalizing a workplace strategy
The study also revealed a significant disconnect between how employers believe they are supporting employees and how employees say they feel. Seventy-five percent of employers believe they are doing enough to help manage medical costs, but just 46% of employees agree.
Part of that gap can be attributed to inconsistent communication from benefits leaders, according to Trevisan.
Employers generally do a good job of communicating benefits during onboarding, but employees are often overwhelmed by the amount of information presented at once. To build financial resilience, benefits leaders need to provide clear, consistent reminders throughout the year about the resources available to employees, Trevisan said.
“That is probably the greatest opportunity to close that communication gap,” he said.
Read more: 5 strategies for mitigating the effects of work stress
Trevisan encouraged benefits leaders to survey their own employees about how financial stress is showing up in the workplace, compare the findings with Prudential’s research, and develop a plan to address it based on the results.
“If there is a gap, you can confirm it by doing a survey,” he said. “Understanding where that disconnect is going to be really helpful for developing the strategy in order to enhance communication and make sure that employees are feeling the support around the economic uncertainty.”