Wellbeing trends for 2025

Health care costs, vendor accountability, and the impact of the 2024 election are among the top health and wellbeing trends to watch in 2025, according to the Business Group on Health. Other top trends for 2025 include employers’ addressing escalating pharmacy spending; reassessing well-being programs; continuing to focus on mental health; helping employees navigate services; and effecting meaningful change in health care.

“A multitude of factors shape these 2025 trends, including the economy, technology, innovation, the political environment and the evolving role of employers in the broader health and well-being landscape,” said Ellen Kelsay, president and CEO of Business Group on Health. “As employers head into the new year, they face formidable challenges stemming from climbing health care costs, which are putting pressure on how employers manage their overall health and well-being programs.”

The Business Group provided the following list of top trends to watch in 2025:

• Health care costs. Employers, which have long prioritized cost management, affordability, quality, and outcomes, will have to heighten their focus in 2025 to addressing climbing health care costs, noted the report. Costs were higher than projected in 2023, and this trend is expected to continue in 2024 and 2025. As a result, the Business Group expects that employers will need to make tough decisions, some of them disruptive, including re-evaluating and possibly disengaging from long-standing partnerships.
• Pharmacy costs. Pharmacy-related costs account for more than 25 percent of employers’ health care budgets. The Business Group notes that employers plan to reassess their current pharmacy partners; one-third anticipate taking a closer look at their pharmacy benefit managers. In addition, businesses will evaluate coverage approaches for expensive GLP-1s in the broader context of their obesity and cardiometabolic health strategy.
• Well-being initiatives. The year 2025 presents an opportunity for HR and benefit leaders to re-evaluate their organizations’ well-being initiatives, especially as chronic conditions and health care costs continue to surge worldwide, the report found. Wherever possible, employers should highlight how well-being programs help their workforces to flourish and impact business outcomes such as productivity and retention, the organization recommends.
• Mental health. While employers have made progress in addressing mental health, particularly in regard to reducing stigma and boosting access to care, employers should focus on workplace policies, practices, and norms to protect mental health and reduce risk factors, the Business Group said.
• Vendor partnerships. Employers will both reassess and streamline their vendor partnerships in the coming year and hold vendors to a higher level of accountability for producing outcomes. To do this, accessible vendor data on cost transparency, quality and outcomes is critical to informed employer decision-making, noted the report.
• Political changes. The year 2025 will also bring changes in the political landscape, including changes to key health-focused roles in the administration, Senate, and House. The Business Group believes that for employers operating in the United States, three major policy areas could dramatically impact their ability to provide high quality, affordable health coverage to their employees: safeguarding the tax-free status of employer health plan coverage; protecting ERISA preemption and the ability to offer uniform coverage/programs nationally; and empowering employers to hold vendors accountable through robust transparency and control over vendor fiduciary positioning.

It does, of course, behoove employers to prioritize the wellbeing of their most important assets: their employees. WCI has healthcare options available for both small and large employers that are proven to save a lot of money, while maintaining or improving the employee experience. More information here.

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