If your health plan renewal is coming up and the numbers look worse than last year, you’re not imagining it. Employers nationwide — and especially here in Ohio — are bracing for another round of significant premium increases in 2026. For many organizations, healthcare now ranks among the top two or three expense lines. That’s not a benefits problem anymore. It’s a business problem.
At Solidarity Health Network, we’ve been administering health plans for employers, unions, and retiree groups since 1989. We’ve seen these cycles before. What we know is that the organizations that come out ahead are the ones that move early — before renewal season forces their hand.
What’s Driving the Increases
The cost pressures employers are feeling right now aren’t random. They’re the result of several compounding factors:
• Chronic disease burden — long-term, high-cost conditions are driving a growing share of claims.
• Pharmaceutical pricing — with no meaningful federal price controls in place, drug costs continue to climb.
• Industry consolidation — particularly in pharmacy, reduced competition has made cost containment harder.
• Federal uncertainty — shifts to Medicaid and Medicare are creating instability that carriers are pricing into premiums.
The numbers back this up. Overall employer healthcare costs are projected to be 62% higher in 2026 than they were in 2017. Large employers expect median increases of 9% this year. Small employers with ACA-compliant plans could face median premium hikes of 11% or more.
The Small Employer Squeeze
Small and mid-size employers are catching the worst of it. Unlike large self-insured organizations with leverage to negotiate, smaller groups often have limited options — and limited runway to absorb increases before having to pass costs on to employees.
That’s a problem, because cost-sharing decisions affect recruiting and retention. Nobody wants to be the employer asking workers to pay more for their health plan in a tight labor market. But absorbing 10–20% increases year after year isn’t sustainable either.
What SHN Can Do for You
We’re not just a TPA that processes claims. We’re a full-service benefits partner — and that distinction matters when costs are under pressure. Here’s where we can help:
• Plan design strategy. We work with plan sponsors to evaluate deductible, co-pay, and co-insurance structures — finding the right balance between cost containment and employee satisfaction.
• PBM consulting. Pharmacy is one of the fastest-growing cost drivers. We help clients evaluate PBM contracts, audit pricing, and find real savings.
• Network strategy. Through relationships with Anthem BCBS, UHC, Aetna, Humana, and Elevance, we can help you evaluate network options that control costs without sacrificing access.
• ACA marketplace administration. For employers exploring marketplace options, we administer ACA plans across all carriers — with full compliance support.
• MEWA and group purchasing. Pooling with like-sized employers through well-structured arrangements can provide pricing leverage that individual employers can’t access on their own.
• Licensed brokerage. We’re licensed across all carriers. If there’s a better option in the market for your group, we’ll find it — and we’ll tell you honestly if there isn’t.
Don’t Wait for Renewal Season
The employers who manage healthcare costs most effectively aren’t the ones reacting at renewal — they’re the ones reviewing plan performance, utilization trends, and carrier options throughout the year. If you haven’t had a full benefits review recently, now is the time.
SHN has been doing this work for over 35 years — for unions, employers, public retirees, and ACA participants. We bring the same rigor and attention to a five-person employer group that we bring to a 180,000-member union plan.
Reach out to us at www.shninc.org to start the conversation.