5 Tips for Communicating Rising Healthcare Costs
The steady rise in healthcare costs has become an expected, and challenging, reality for benefits professionals.
If you’re in the field, you’ve likely developed expertise in negotiating with vendors, evaluating tradeoffs, and balancing affordability with access. You understand the complex chain of decisions that can lead to higher payroll deductions, narrower formularies, and increased out-of-pocket costs.
But employees experience those changes very differently.
Healthcare costs are projected to increase by 9% in 2026, continuing a pattern of growth that outpaces general inflation. What may feel predictable internally can feel uncertain, disruptive, and highly personal to employees and their families.
Taking the Employee Perspective
For most employees, healthcare is not an area of expertise. It’s a source of stress, especially when costs change.
Employees likely do not see or understand the strategic decisions behind plan design or cost management. Instead, they experience the impact directly: Higher paycheck deductions, changes in prescription coverage, or increased costs at the point of care.
In an environment where affordability is a growing concern for many households, even expected increases can feel difficult to manage. That experience can influence behavior, sometimes in ways that create additional challenges, such as delaying care or avoiding necessary treatment.
Why Transparent Communications Matter
When the work to manage healthcare costs stays behind the scenes, employees are left to interpret changes on their own. And without context, those interpretations can erode trust.
That’s why communications are not just a supporting activity. They're a strategic tool.
Done well, they can help:
- Reinforce the organization’s investment in benefits
- Build trust during periods of change
- Guide more informed decision-making
- Increase the use of high-value benefits
- Support more sustainable long-term cost outcomes
While communication alone won’t eliminate rising costs, it can help employees better understand what’s changing and what actions they can take in response.
How to Leverage Communications to Engage Employees
Here’s how organizations can strengthen employee understanding, trust, and engagement as healthcare costs continue to rise:
1. Explain why in plain language
Generic messages about rising costs aren’t enough. Employees need clear, relevant context.
Focus on explaining:
- What’s driving the increase, such as specialty medications or hospital costs
- What the organization has done to manage costs
- What tradeoffs were considered
Clear explanations can help employees better process what’s happening and feel more confident in how to respond.
2. Make the employer’s investment visible
Employees often focus on what they pay, not the full value of what they receive.
Use communications to make the organization’s investment more transparent by showing:
- Employer versus employee premium contributions
- The total value of benefits—not just paycheck deductions
- Investments in programs such as care navigation, mental health, or preventive services
- How benefits connect to the broader total rewards or well-being strategy
Providing this context can help employees better understand the overall value of their benefits, even as costs increase.
3. Guide specific behaviors that can help manage costs
It’s not always clear how employees can make cost-conscious healthcare decisions.
Instead of assuming understanding, offer practical, actionable guidance. For example:
- Choosing high-quality, lower-cost providers when appropriate
- Comparing costs before receiving care
- Considering generic or preferred medications when options are available
- Using care navigation or advocacy services
- Taking advantage of no- or low-cost preventive care services
By providing employees with ongoing, clear and simple guidance for using their benefits, you empower them to play an active part in managing costs.
4. Anticipate friction and address it directly
Plan changes can introduce new steps, requirements, or limitations that may feel confusing or frustrating, or, in some cases, disrupt care.
Address these changes proactively by explaining:
- What’s changing
- Why the change is necessary
- How employees can navigate it, including alternative options where available
- Where to go for support
Setting expectations early and providing clear guidance can help reduce frustration and support a smoother experience.
5. Lead with empathy, not just information
For employees, cost increases are personal. Effective communications acknowledge this. They avoid overly technical language and recognize the financial and emotional impact of benefit changes.
Consider segmenting your messaging so it reflects different employee needs and life stages. Across audiences, strong communications should:
- Acknowledge financial pressures
- Use clear and accessible language
- Reinforce the organization’s commitment to balancing affordability and sustainability
Empathy helps ensure that messages feel relevant, not just informational.
The Bottom Line: Communications Protect the Value of Your Benefits
When benefits cost more, employees need more than updates—they need clarity, context, and guidance.
Strong communications can help employees understand changes within a broader context, make more informed decisions, and use benefits more effectively.
Just as importantly, they can help reinforce trust, ensuring employees recognize the ongoing investment being made in their health, well-being, and financial security.
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Rita Brennan, VP Senior Consultant, is known for her ability to break down complex benefits programs into their essential parts, so employees can quickly assess “what’s in it for me.”
