News

OCTOBER 14, 2026 · SIIA CAPTIVE COMMITTEE (COVERAGE IN CAPTIVE INSURANCE TIMES)

2026 Captive Industry Survey & Trend Report

The SIIA Captive Committee released its 2026 survey at its October 11–13 conference, and Captive Insurance Times published detailed coverage on October 14. The survey covered 160 companies and entities, with much smaller samples behind individual questions. The findings suggest education and operational discipline matter alongside pricing.

• Among brokers with captive clients, 16 of 35 identified lack of understanding as the biggest barrier to clients entering a captive.
• Among medical stop-loss respondents, 12 of 22 reported better renewal performance than the standard market, nine reported about the same, and one reported worse.

Note: these are industry perceptions from small subgroups, not a controlled comparison of savings. Figures are as attributed in published coverage; we have not reviewed the primary report.

Read the coverage

OCTOBER 13, 2026 · BENEFITHUB

Employees Enter Open Enrollment Season Worried, Rushed and Unsure Their Benefits Will Protect Them

BenefitHub surveyed nearly 13,000 U.S. workers about how they approach open enrollment and how protected they feel.

• Almost eight in ten spend an hour or less selecting benefits, and 45% consult no one.
• Only 28% believe their benefits adequately protect their family’s financial security.
• 77% worry about out-of-pocket medical costs, and 73% worry about paying bills after three months out of work.

Note: these are self-reported concerns, not measured coverage gaps. BenefitHub sells voluntary-benefit services, and full report access is gated.

Source and report access

OCTOBER 13, 2026 · KATHRYN MAYER, SHRM

This Is HR’s Top Open Enrollment Priority

In SHRM’s September pulse survey, cost control was the leading open-enrollment priority among HR professionals, well ahead of benefits education.

• 57% named cost control their top priority.
• 24% named benefits education.
• 11% named participation or engagement.
• 5% named simplifying choices.

Note: the article does not disclose the sample size, and the survey measures HR priorities, not employee comprehension. SHRM may limit article access.

Read the article

OCTOBER 8, 2026 · ALIGHT

2026 Alight U.S. Employee Mindset Study

Alight surveyed more than 2,500 full- and part-time U.S. employees at organizations with 1,000 or more employees (May–June 2026). The findings point to decision regret, delayed care, and unused leave when health and benefit decisions feel confusing or difficult.

• Only 31% typically feel very confident making health decisions.
• 67% regretted a health-care decision during the previous year, six points higher than in 2025 and nine points higher than in 2024.
• 43% delayed or avoided medical care because the process felt too difficult or confusing.
• Among employees who needed health care, 55% did not receive it, most commonly because of cost and waiting times.
• Only 57% understand their employer’s leave benefits.
• 36% did not take needed leave; among them, 32% said the process was too difficult.
• 65% would be interested in personalized employer messages about relevant benefits and programs.

Study overview  |  Independent summary

OCTOBER 8, 2026 · NEW YORK LIFE GROUP BENEFIT SOLUTIONS, RESEARCH BY MORNING CONSULT

Employees Are Treating Benefits Like Purchases, Not Perks

New research suggests employees weigh voluntary benefits for value, but rarely think about them outside open enrollment and often do not know what their employer offers. The survey covered 1,040 employed adults with coverage through their own or a spouse’s employer or union.

• 71% carefully evaluate whether voluntary benefits offer good value, rising to 83% among Gen Z.
• 65% have neither used nor explored voluntary benefits outside open enrollment.
• Half primarily consider benefits during enrollment; only 15% think about them throughout the year.
• 59% want more benefits education.
• Only 36% know all the details of their potential medical out-of-pocket costs.
• Supplemental health was the second most desired benefit category, but only 15% knew their employer offered supplemental voluntary coverage.

Read the findings

OCTOBER 6, 2026 · ASSUREX GLOBAL

Employee Benefits Market Check Survey: Employer Enrollment Perspectives

Assurex Global surveyed 189 employers on September 24. Employers recognize that employees struggle to understand their benefits, yet most plan to keep using largely the same enrollment process.

• 48% said their primary communication objective was helping employees understand their choices.
• Yet 79% rated employee understanding as only moderate or low.
• Despite that assessment, 87% planned only minor changes or no meaningful enrollment-process changes.
• Employers identified engagement with communications as the leading barrier at 31%, followed by understanding benefit options at 28%.

Read the survey summary

SEPTEMBER 28, 2026 · WEX BENEFITS (SPONSORED ANALYSIS IN HR DIVE)

What data says about open-enrollment education

A sponsored analysis from WEX Benefits, drawing on nearly 60,000 WEX participants, suggests employees do not necessarily want more frequent communication. They want appropriately timed information, and extra help when their confidence is low.

• On a 0–10 scale, 34% rated their benefits understanding at seven or below.
• Employees most wanted additional education about HSAs, lifestyle-spending accounts and pet insurance.
• For ongoing communication, 44% preferred monthly messages and 27% preferred quarterly messages.

Read the analysis

SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 · TAKE COMMAND

What 1,500+ Employees Can Teach Us About Open Enrollment

Take Command’s analysis, drawing on more than 1,500 employees, argues that employees should not begin enrollment from a blank page or automatically repeat last year’s elections. Their experience using the current plan is the best starting point for the next decision.

• Employees often compare premiums because they are easy to see, while overlooking provider networks, prescription tiers, prior-authorization requirements and total out-of-pocket costs.
• Employees who are undecided may recognize that their existing plan did not work well without knowing how to evaluate the alternatives.

Read the analysis

SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 · MARSH / MERCER

Employers Expect Health Benefit Costs to Jump 8.2% in 2027

Preliminary results from the National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, with responses from over 1,800 U.S. employers collected through August 10, project how much health-benefit costs will grow in 2027.

• Total health-benefit cost per employee is projected to grow 8.2% in 2027 after planned interventions, versus 11% without action.
• 59% of employers plan cost-cutting changes.

Note: this is a forecast of total benefit costs, not an approved premium increase or a forecast of employee paycheck deductions. The results are preliminary and consultant-sponsored.

Read the release

AUGUST 20, 2026 · EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Expanding the Benefits Horizon: Employee Understanding, Enrollment, and Financial Vulnerability

The Employee Benefit Research Institute surveyed 1,130 benefits-eligible employees. The findings suggest voluntary-benefit enrollment is constrained by both affordability and weak understanding, but short, plain-language explanations can materially increase employee interest.

• Only 40% reported high understanding of critical-illness insurance, and only 35% of hospital-indemnity insurance. Even health insurance reached only 54%.
• Employer-reported availability exceeded employee awareness by 21 percentage points for vision and 15 points for dental. Awareness gaps also existed for disability and supplemental-health coverage.
• After reading concise descriptions, 76% expressed at least some interest in critical-illness coverage, 71% in accident insurance and 63% in hospital indemnity. Interest is not the same as enrollment, but it shows that comprehension changes consideration.
• 53% of employees experiencing a recent medical event paid at least $1,000 out of pocket, while just 28% felt very prepared for an unexpected $1,000 expense.
• 37% reported having a medical bill sent to collections.

Authors: Bridget Bearden, Jake Spiegel, Kelsey Bradbury and Diana Crookston.

Download the 29-page report

JULY 28, 2026 · EBRI AND MORGAN HEALTH

New EBRI–Morgan Health Survey on ICHRAs

The research surveyed roughly 1,000 benefits decision-makers about individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs).

• Among smaller employers without coverage, 55% did not know ICHRA was an option.
• Morgan Health reports that 89% of employers would be more likely to adopt an ICHRA with group-plan-like network quality and choice.

Note: these are stated preferences, not adoption or savings outcomes. Morgan Health supports investment in new coverage options, and we have not reviewed the full EBRI chartbook.

Public findings

MAY 13, 2026 · BENEFITFOCUS, A VOYA COMPANY

State of Employee Benefits Report 2026

Drawing on enrollment records from 316 large employers and more than 1.8 million employees, plus claims data for roughly 600,000 employees and dependents, the report finds the education challenge continues after enrollment: employees are not consistently using the coverage they selected.

• 32.1% of members had no primary-care provider.
• 20.9% had no claims during 2025.
• Preventive-care use was only 58.9%.
• Among emergency-department visits by members without a primary-care provider, 30% involved non-emergent issues.
• Only 46% of employers offered supplemental benefits, although employee interest in accident and critical-illness protection was reported as high.

The report also says employees using the publisher’s decision-support tool had 5.5% lower combined medical and prescription costs and were more likely to select HDHPs, fund HSAs and elect voluntary benefits. This is an association, not proof that the tool caused the difference.

Download the report