Another renewal season is on the horizon and for many, this one feels different. HR leaders and the benefits consultants they work with are feeling the pressure of renewal increases at an unprecedented rate.
Healthcare costs are continuing their relentless climb, and strategies that once felt innovative are showing their limitations. Trusted sources like PwC predicted 8-9% medical cost increases for 2025, but the reality is many employers are facing increases well beyond that projection.
As we look toward 2026 and beyond, it’s clear that something needs to change. There’s a perfect storm of cost drivers that are contributing to the unprecedented shifts we’re seeing. The coming year clearly demands a fundamental shift in how benefits strategies are designed.
The playbook of years past is failing, because it overlooks a crucial element: employee engagement. You can offer the best benefits package, but if employees lack awareness of their benefits or simply don’t understand how to access them, it does you no good. And the result—wasted investment by employers and less than ideal optics for the trusted benefits consultants they work with.
This begs the question, “What can I do differently this year?” The answer doesn’t lie in another temporary fix or a new point solution. It lies in a strategic approach built on three interconnected pillars that work together to close the engagement gap, change employee behavior and deliver measurable financial results.
Historically, the response to rising healthcare costs has been reactive. Employers implement a new wellness program here or a new virtual therapy program there—but often only after big claims hit the benefit plan. While these programs are well-intentioned, they’re often just a band-aid solution for a much larger systemic issue. The true path to impact requires a fundamental shift in approach.
The proliferation of wellness programs, virtual care options, and other point solutions has inadvertently created a new problem: "point solution fatigue." Employees are presented with a dizzying array of options but are given no clear map or guidance on how to use them, leading to confusion and underutilization.
The foundational pillar of a high-performance strategy is to solve this fragmentation by creating a single, connected benefits experience. This "single front door" approach centralizes all of a company's benefits and programs into one intuitive platform, eliminating the friction that prevents employees from finding the right care at the right time. This aligns directly with the broader industry trend toward integrated technology that simplifies the employee experience and reduces administrative burdens.
To truly close the engagement gap, we must move beyond passive benefits education—like annual open enrollment meetings and static intranets—to a model of active, real-time guidance. This second pillar leverages technology, particularly AI and predictive analytics, to proactively "steer" employees toward high-quality, low-cost care options at their precise moment of need.
When an employee searches for care, this system can instantly analyze their needs, plan design, and available in-network providers to present them with the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective options. This is the modern, scalable application of the "navigation support" that employers are increasingly seeking. By using AI to deliver personalized recommendations, this approach can effectively change ingrained behaviors and guide the member away from the path of least resistance—like a costly emergency room visit for a non-emergency condition—and toward the path of highest value.
The final, crucial pillar is what transforms this system from a set of features into a strategic asset: the ability to prove its impact. This is the "confirmed savings" engine.
Claiming “savings” is table stakes. Bringing a strategic partner to the table that can offer true, confirmed savings is the ultimate differentiator. It changes the conversation from "we believe this will save you money" to "we can prove how much this saved you."
This involves creating a closed-loop data system that documents and analyzes how guidance leads to improved care decisions. By using sophisticated analytics to quantify the cost differential between the high-cost option the employee may have chosen and the lower-cost, high-value option they were steered to, the system can calculate the hard-dollar savings generated by each intervention.
With the right tools, these confirmed savings can then be aggregated and presented to the client and broker in a transparent data insights dashboard. This provides the unambiguous proof of ROI needed to validate the strategy's effectiveness, build unwavering trust with the client, and justify the ongoing investment in the benefits program.
In a world of ambiguity, a proven, data-backed approach builds trust and demonstrates tangible value. Consultants who can provide this level of certainty and show real savings will not only secure renewals but also attract new clients tired of empty promises.
The renewal season is going to be pivotal for the entire benefits industry. The consultants who are able to guide their clients through what seems like an impossible challenge—and successfully bring them out the other side with proven ROI—are the ones who will retain business and continue to be strategic advisors.
With an approach that is focused on optimizing engagement and proving value, brokers and consultants can fundamentally alter their value proposition and successfully navigate the "impossible challenge" of the current renewal environment. It equips them to move beyond the painful, zero-sum conversations about cutting benefits or increasing employee cost-sharing. Instead, they can lead strategic conversations about optimizing the client's existing investment, driving efficiency through smarter utilization, and delivering positive ROI.
This is a critical moment where employers desperately need guidance and data-driven strategies that will deliver. The tools to change the trajectory of your clients’ healthcare spend are here now.
Learn how to break the cycle and unlock confirmed savings.