Fast Finance
15 trends from UnitedHealthcare
Share of employers offering only high-deductible plans decreased
Published
5 hours ago
A surge in high-cost claims was among the trends last year that UnitedHealthcare identified in its employer-sponsored health plans.
The dominant healthcare payer’s 2026 Health Trends Report used data from UnitedHealthcare’s self-funded and fully insured plans. The annual report used claims filed from November 2024 to October 2025 and paid through January 2026.
Top findings from the report include:
- 12.9% increase in costs related to catastrophic claims of $100,000 or more from 2024 to 2025
- 20.3% of catastrophic claim costs are from Gen X enrollees (age 45-60)
- 11% increase in pharmacy costs in 2025
- Specialty medications were about 55% of total pharmacy benefit spend but less than 2% of utilization
- Cancer, musculoskeletal disorders and circulatory conditions continue to dominate spend
- 11.7% increase in per-member treatment costs for maternity care (including fertility treatments)
- 117% increase in costs for mental health disorder treatment since 2019
- 10.5% increase in costs for digestive disorders, including for side effects from GLP-1s, from 2024 to 2025
- 60% increase in costs since 2019 for nervous system disorders, such as multiple sclerosis
- 16.1% decrease in virtual visits
- 5.2% increase in Gen Z ED visits, amid 2.1% overall increase
- 36% higher per-member costs for spouses than employees, driven by an older average age (age 47 for spouses vs. 44 for employees)
- 18% of employers offer high-deductible plan as only option for most employees, down from 23% in 2023
- 29% of employers offer copay plan, up from 10% in 2024
- 62% of employers offer cancer center of excellence, down from 73% in 2024
