What Does It Actually Cost to Do Nothing?

The Real Price of Keeping Your Current Benefits Setup

Every year, employers go through the same renewal cycle: review rising healthcare costs, adjust budgets, and make incremental changes to benefits plans. While this feels like the safest option with less disruption and fewer decisions needed to get over this necessary hurdle, doing nothing actually costs more.

Through this cycle, employers spend more on healthcare while often gaining little visibility into where these dollars are actually going. Employers are locked in a “benefits black box” where they “see the headline premium and a renewal spreadsheet, but not the underlying mechanics that determine what they pay, what employees experience, and what can realistically be improved” (Harwood, 2026). Simply accepting annual increases without that insight, puts unnecessary strain on company budgets that should be pushing the company further, not becoming a crutch.

In 2026, the world is also in an unexpected economic climate where unforeseeable inflation and tariffs can drive up health insurance premiums. According to Matt McGough, a policy analyst at KFF.org, “several individual insurance market carriers are raising 2026 premiums by more than they otherwise would, due to the expectation that tariffs will drive up their prescription drug costs, which may or may not come to pass” (McGough, 2025). How can companies base their decisions on something that may never happen?

Also, medical plans, wellness programs, and care navigation tools often operate independently. For employers, this makes an unnecessary firewall, blocking their insight on a true comparison between plans. This makes it difficult for employers to identify duplicate services, measure vendor performance, or understand what is truly driving healthcare costs.

Out With The Old And In With The New

There is a solution to this issue that not only can give employers a trusted insight into a comprehensive year end benefits review, but can also manage healthcare strategies year round. Forsure Research recently published our findings on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in healthcare (Link). Providing employers with a clearer view of where healthcare dollars are being spent, identify efficiency and build a strategic data driven approach to benefits management. Forsure aids employers in real time response to unexpected healthcare premium increases and can develop fallout strategies within seconds.

With greater visibility into costs and utilization, employers can make informed decisions that can contribute to lower healthcare costs.

AGI is rapidly transforming the future of healthcare benefits management like a bullet train. Employers who climb aboard now will be better positioned to control costs, make smarter decisions, and stay ahead of the rapidly changing healthcare landscape. Those who wait may find themselves struggling to catch up.

Climb aboard with Forsure today.

References

KFF. (August 2025). Tariffs are expected to increase prescription drug prices, which in turn will drive up health insurance premiums. Kff.org. https://www.kff.org/quick-insights/tariffs-are-driving-2026-health-insurance-premiums-up/

Harwood, C. (February 2026). Employee Benefits Cost Transparency: How SMB Employers Can Take Control of Rising Healthcare Costs. OPOC.us. https://opoc.us/blog/employee-benefits-cost-transparency/

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