2025 Benefits Survey of Hospitals

2025 Benefits Survey of Hospitals

Our Survey

Now in its twentieth year, Aon’s Benefits Survey of Hospitals provides crucial benchmarking and insights that hospital executives need to offer a more attractive benefits package and better manage their employer-sponsored health plans.

This year’s survey highlights strategic benefits and wellbeing priorities and tactics in response to increasing healthcare costs as health systems deal with financial headwinds impacting operating margins, funding and budgets. While they recognize the need to manage costs more effectively, it is increasingly important to ensure that benefits are not only perceived as valuable by employees but optimized for their return on investment.

The 2025 survey covers the entire United States and provides key findings for:

155

health systems
1,500

hospitals
3.6M+

employees

Key Areas of Concern

Health system employers continue to find ways to adapt and be nimble in this challenging environment.
Managing rising costs for medical and pharmacy benefits is the top priority for health system employers, with increased incidence of high-cost claimants, gene cell therapies and GLP-1 medications, along with increasing prevalence of chronic and complex conditions.
Tactics for managing spend are also reflected in the top 15 ranked with retaining services within the domestic network, assessing the methodology around domestic claims reimbursement (also aligned with managing fiduciary obligations), and of course, an ongoing area of concern across employer industries – GLP-1 spend management.
Interestingly, we saw a significant jump (up 7 spots in ranking to second place) in wanting to ensure that employees understand the value of their benefits. Cost and value go hand in hand – as health systems invest in some benefits and reduce others, if the value is not clearly articulated to employees and understood by employees, the return on that investment or decision to cut cannot be adequately assessed.
Health and wellbeing continue to be a priority — and certainly an important strategy to retain talent and ensure that employees thrive, in the workplace and out. However, health systems are looking to optimize their benefits offering to ensure they are providing the intended return and value on investment.

Topics Covered in the Report

The report further illuminates how health systems are addressing these areas:

Health plan concerns, strategy, and fiduciary oversight
Strategies to manage rising medical and pharmacy benefits costs
Benefits offered to attract and retain talent
Benefits implemented to address workforce challenges and needs for a diverse workforce
Health plan cost sharing and affordability tactics
Strategies to drive domestic utilization
Wellbeing strategy and programs
Plan costs (national and regional breakout available)
Medical and pharmacy plan design and employee contributions (national and regional breakout available)
Employee cost share differentials between domestic, in-network (non-domestic) and out-of-network tiers; and in-house and external pharmacy

You may request a complimentary and tailored session with an Aon healthcare industry leader to explore key findings, benchmarking to other health systems in your region, and recommendations specific to your organization.