Speaking to finance leaders at the CFO Leadership Council’s fall conference in Colorado, Marybeth Gray of Marsh McLennan Agency framed health benefits as a financial issue, not just an HR one. She cited Business Group on Health data showing healthcare costs have risen as much as 76% over the past decade, and urged employers to begin planning for 2028 benefits in January 2027. June, she said, is already implementation time, and waiting means falling further behind.
Gray cautioned that wellness programs alone won’t meaningfully move the needle on costs, since the employees who join them are not the ones driving spending. Instead, she recommended focusing on high-cost claimants and top utilizers, such as auto-enrolling people with diabetes into coaching programs. She also pointed to General Motors’ decision to switch from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to Aetna as an example of a difficult but potentially worthwhile carrier change.
On the medical side, Gray highlighted genomic and pharmacogenomic testing as underused tools. Such tests can identify cancer risk and help determine which medications are most likely to work for a given patient. “The science is George Jetson; the benefits are still Fred Flintstone,” she said, arguing that employers should consider incorporating these advances into health plans. The source article presents this as a single adviser’s perspective and offers no counterpoint.