Mercer’s National Survey Highlights Rising Healthcare Costs for 2025
Mercer’s latest National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans reveals worrisome projections for healthcare costs in 2025. The survey predicts a 7% annual rise in average medical expenses for group markets, marking the third consecutive year of cost increases exceeding 5%. This comes after a decade of more moderate annual increases averaging around 3%. Several factors are driving this trend, including inflation, high-cost specialty medications, and growing patient demand on an already overburdened healthcare system.
The Silver Lining: Virtual Care as a Solution
Virtual care continues to prove its value in delivering cost-effective, patient-centered solutions. As it becomes an integral part of healthcare delivery, it offers benefits that go far beyond convenience and accessibility.
How Virtual Care Helps Lower Costs and What to Look for in a Vendor
1.) Reducing Claims Impact on Group Health Plans
Partnering with an independent virtual care provider like Recuro Health ensures that virtual visits operate outside the traditional claims process. As utilization grows, the impact on claims diminishes, helping employers sidestep issues tied to carrier-embedded virtual care. These issues often include fragmented care coordination, fee-for-service payment models that compromise the patient experience, and limited engagement strategies.
2.) Diverting Patients from Costlier Care Options
Virtual care for urgent, primary, or mental health needs helps reduce reliance on expensive options like emergency rooms or urgent care centers. Look for vendors that report at least 85% of virtual visits as cost-diverting to ensure meaningful savings.
3.) Promoting Preventive Care through Value-Based Strategies
Early engagement in preventive care and adherence to age- and gender-specific screenings can slow or prevent chronic conditions. Unlike many providers who are incentivized to treat rather than prevent chronic diseases, Recuro Health’s independent virtual care model prioritizes preventive tactics to build healthier populations and reduce overall healthcare costs.
4.) Enhancing Chronic Disease Management
With rising costs linked to chronic diseases, offering unlimited virtual primary care allows patients to have more frequent and longer appointments to address their health concerns. About 30% of ER visits by those with chronic conditions could be avoided with better access to primary care. Virtual care supports personalized treatment plans, ensuring members with multiple chronic conditions receive the attention they need to manage their health effectively.
5.) Addressing Delayed Care and Reducing High-Cost Claims
Skipped or delayed care due to the pandemic or personal barriers has contributed to a rise in high-cost claims. Between 2021 and 2023, stop-loss premiums increased by 16%. Encouraging regular wellness exams, preventive care, and proactive disease management can help mitigate the risks of these claims while improving overall health outcomes for employees.
By integrating value-based virtual care solutions, Recuro Health empowers employers to take control of rising healthcare costs while delivering accessible, high-quality care to their workforce.
