Finding the right balance: Designing health benefits that work for employers and employees

Competing priorities—Talent, care and costs

As a leader, you know offering a competitive benefits package is key to attracting and retaining top talent. But as healthcare costs continue to rise with an 8.5% increase projected for 2026, providing robust benefits while also being cost-conscious for your organization is a delicate balance. 

This is particularly important given annual premiums for employer-sponsored coverage increasing by 6% last year. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2025 survey revealed average family premiums near $27,000 per year, with workers contributing nearly $6,850, underscoring affordability concerns for both employers and employees. 

Employers across all industries and sizes continue to express concerns about the volatility. During this time, it's essential to make smart business decisions for the company while also showing employees their health is a priority.

This balancing act requires careful consideration and strategic planning to meet the needs of both employer and employee.

What employers expect over the next five years

According to our proprietary Designing for Impact survey, most employers don’t expect dramatic shifts in their overall benefits allocation over the next five years. 

 

However:

• 64% believe benefits costs will rise
• 52% expect cost volatility to continue
• 75% are concerned about the changing cost of health benefits

These statistics underscore the urgency for employers to implement proactive cost-effective strategies that can withstand potential market fluctuations and control expenses without compromising the quality of care provided to employees.

The power of prevention 

In this backdrop where employers need benefit designs that demonstrate investment in health and reflect smart business decisions, the good news is that strategically investing in preventive care services can be a win-win for both containing costs and promoting a healthier workforce. 

Understanding how to deliver key preventive services that curtail costs early—before conditions progress—while serving a progressively decentralized workforce in convenient, equitable ways is paramount. By catching risks early, you can steer members to high value care and help minimize high-cost claims. 

Benefits leaders agree, with 76% of employers reporting more preventive services like biometric testing, cancer screenings and maternal/reproductive benefits are essential to cost control, alongside network management and member cost sharing. Among large employers (over 5,000 employees), 80% see preventive services as critical. 

Regular health screenings can detect conditions like high blood pressure, which is a significant risk factor for heart disease and stroke—two leading causes of death in the United States. Preventive screenings can also layer gap closing tests to flag risks for diabetes and chronic kidney disease before high-cost complications arise.

Offering comprehensive family-building benefits and maternity care coordination (preconception counseling, prenatal risk management, postpartum follow-up), preventive benefits can help reduce NICU stays and maternal complications—some of the most expensive claims categories. 

No matter what combinations of benefits you choose, well-designed preventive programs help with:

1. Identifying risk early for hypertension, diabetes, cancers and pregnancy risks before conditions progress and costs compound
2. Activating sustained behavior change through coaching, navigation and easy access to appropriate care

The logic is simple: When you identify health risks early through biometric screenings or detect cancer in its most treatable stages, you avoid the high costs associated with advanced disease management. A preventable hospital admission for uncontrolled diabetes or a late-stage cancer diagnosis can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This priority and emphasis is consistent with CDC findings that chronic diseases and mental health conditions drive 90% of the annual $4.9 trillion in U.S. health spending and early detection and preventive care cut serious downstream costs and improve outcomes. The bottom line is employers are steering toward targeted, preventive and value oriented benefits—not spending more across the board but strategically spending smarter to reduce risk and future claims.

The value of health coaching in controlling healthcare costs

Health coaching plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between awareness and lasting behavior change. While biometric screenings provide an initial wake-up call about one's health status, coaches give employees:

• A resource to help make sense of their health information
• Flexibility to meet them where they’re at in their health journey
• An individual bridge for them to help close any gaps in care
• Personalized support and tools to set achievable goals and develop sustainable healthy habits

When preventive screenings are combined with coaching, employers get a 360-degree solution that detects risks early and provides tailored support to help employees address those risks before they escalate into chronic issues. Additionally, the investment in preventive screenings and health coaching represents a fraction of claims expenses associated with chronic conditions.

Beyond the individual impact, health coaching can shape an overall culture of well-being within an organization. 

Real-world impact: Preventive services in action 

The value of preventive services extends beyond theoretical outcomes and cost savings—it delivers measurable health improvements translating into long-term cost containment. Consider the real-world impact of combining biometric screenings with health coaching to address high blood pressure and cardiovascular risk, one of the most significant drivers of healthcare costs, which costs the U.S. $219 billion annually.

Working with a large healthcare organization, Labcorp combined these approaches to help employees reduce their risk of heart disease by improving blood pressure levels. The approach focused on two key elements: raising awareness and driving long-term action. 

Biometric screenings provided employees with up-to-date health information, often serving as a wake-up call for those unaware of their health risks. Following the screenings, health coaching sessions offered employees the opportunity to understand their numbers and develop sustainable habits for long-term health improvement.

The results were significant for employees who completed both programs:

• Of employees who started the programs in 2020, 31% improved their blood pressure risk level when screened again in 2022
• Of employees who started in 2021, the improvement rate rose to 35% by 2022

These improvements are significant, considering nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure and only about 1 in 4 adults with high blood pressure have their condition under control, both contributing to significant cardiovascular disease risk.

The improvements also represent more than numbers on a chart. When employees move from elevated blood pressure (125/80 mm Hg) to normal levels (110/70 mm Hg), they reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney disease—conditions representing some of the highest-cost chronic diseases affecting the American workforce. 

By prioritizing screenings and health coaching, employers can genuinely engage employees regarding their well-being while reducing cardiovascular risks and lowering long-term healthcare utilization and costs for both the organization and its employees. 

"My health coach gave realistic advice when it came to goals: take smaller steps at a time versus one giant goal to achieve all at once." –Participating employee

The individualized guidance was key to gradual, sustainable change in making meaningful lifestyle adjustments that allowed employees to improve their numbers over time and facilitated long-term success in improving health outcomes.

The impact on corporate culture

Beyond the direct health benefits, implementing such programs can have a positive impact on corporate culture. 

"The program helps to bolster the overall culture here. It’s also great my employer is setting an example as a prominent health organization that wellness is a priority for its employees." –Another participating employee

This sentiment highlights how investing in employee health and wellness can contribute to a positive work environment, potentially improving job satisfaction and retention rates.

Cost-effective strategies for employers

While the case study demonstrates the effectiveness of combining biometric screenings with health coaching, it's important to determine how you can implement such programs in a cost-effective manner tailored to your company’s needs. 

Here are nine strategies to consider:

Building a sustainable benefits strategy 

While preventive care is a powerful tool, cost containment may also require a multi-pronged approach. That's why 78% of employers also believe employee cost-sharing strategies like deductibles, copays and coinsurance are important levers for managing expenses. 

Broad market evidence aligns, as employers expect 2026 to include shifts toward higher deductibles, narrow networks and alternative plan designs. Due to the projected healthcare cost increases, many employers also expect to make increases in employee cost-sharing.

 

Cost-sharing helps transfer some of the financial burden to employees (a necessity for some businesses as expenses rise), and it engages employees as active participants in their healthcare decisions and spending. When employees have more skin in the game through out-of-pocket costs, they tend to be more discerning consumers.

The key is striking the right balance, making sure cost-sharing requirements are meaningful enough to inspire cost-conscious behaviors but not so burdensome they deter employees from seeking preventive care and routine medical treatment. Consider implementing tiered cost-sharing structures promoting the use of high-value, preventive services while applying higher cost-sharing to less essential or more costly services.

The role of network management

Effective network management is another crucial aspect of controlling healthcare costs. This can involve:

1. Narrow networks. Partner with a select group of high-quality, cost-effective providers.

2. Centers of excellence. Direct employees to specialized facilities for complex procedures to facilitate high-quality care and better outcomes.

3. Value-based care models. Collaborate with providers who focus on outcomes rather than volume of services. 

Labcorp: Your partner in employee health

As you plan for the next benefits cycle, consider cost management strategies that don’t lessen your employee value proposition. The employers who will thrive in this environment are those who recognize employee health and cost management are complementary goals—and when pursued through strategic benefits design, they create value for both the organization and its people.

By implementing these strategies, you can:

• Improve employee productivity through better health management
• Build a healthier, more engaged workforce capable of sustaining high performance
• Enhance talent attraction and retention by demonstrating genuine investment in employee well-being

For benefits leaders, the challenge isn't whether to invest in preventive services—the data makes the decision clear. The challenge is how to implement these services effectively within budget constraints and across an evolving workforce landscape. In an era of uncertainty around healthcare costs, this strategic foresight distinguishes leading organizations from those simply reacting to rising expenses.

With our nationwide reach, Labcorp can help you with biometric screenings, multimodal access and evidence based health coaching to help employers operationalize prevention at scale. For decentralized workforces, our onsite, offsite and at home screening options, plus telephonic results consultations for health coaching, foster consistent engagement, equitable access and actionable follow-through.