Employers project that per-employee health benefit cost will rise by an average of 4.0% next year after they make planned changes Underlying cost growth has also slowed -- cost would rise 5.5% if employers made no changes.... The difference between the underlying cost growth and the actual cost growth can be an indication of how much or little employers are cutting health plan value by raising deductibles or other cost-sharing provisions. A difference of just 1.5 percentage points for 2017 suggests employers do not plan to do much cost-shifting."  MORE >>