Businessolver

How BenX is solving rising healthcare cost pressures

The healthcare cost challenge facing employers
For many Americans, the cost of healthcare has become a top financial worry—ranking higher than groceries or even rent. And employers are feeling that pressure just as intensely. According to Aon’s 2026 Senior Consultant Survey, 90% of consultants cite cost containment as employers’ top strategic goal.
At the same time, employers are trying to maintain competitive benefits, meet the needs of increasingly diverse workforces, and deliver a consumer‑grade experience employees expect.
So, the question remains: How can employers provide both choice and cost control in an environment where traditional benefits models are no longer delivering?
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Why traditional models aren’t working for everyone

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As healthcare costs outpace budgets, many employers are reverting to familiar strategies: cost shifting via plan design changes, vendor RFPs, and tightening high-cost categories (like GLP-1s). Yet this model isn’t working for everyone.
Because at the end of the day:

Employee satisfaction with
traditional plans is still declining.

Fixed contributions are becoming essential for budgeting predictability.

Employee populations are more diverse than ever—active workers, part‑time staff, multi‑state teams, and retirees, all with different needs.

Administrative complexity rises when employers attempt to offer more options without the right infrastructure.

There’s still an undeniable gap between what healthcare costs, and what employers can sustainably pay—and employers are looking for new models to close it.
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A shift toward private benefits marketplaces

To address these challenges, more employers are exploring private health insurance marketplaces: models designed to introduce competition, flexibility, and predictability into healthcare purchasing.
One example is BenX, a private, multi-carrier marketplace developed through a partnership between Aon and Businessolver. The model is designed to balance employer cost control with employee choice by combining regional carrier competition, defined contributions, and a guided enrollment experience.
Rather than relying on a single carrier or one-size-fits-all approach, private marketplaces aim to modernize how healthcare is purchased and experienced.

Why regional carrier competition changes the cost equation

In traditional models, employers often default to national carriers—even when regional options may offer better pricing or network fit.
BenX introduces carrier competition at the regional level, with competitive bidding across 22 distinct geographies. This localized approach matters: 36.9% of employees in BenX populations are eligible for regional carriers, helping improve both pricing efficiency and network alignment.
By allowing carriers to compete where they are strongest, employers can access more cost-effective, fully insured options without sacrificing coverage quality.
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Predictable healthcare
spend through defined contribution

Another core component of private marketplaces is the move toward defined contribution healthcare.
With BenX, employers provide a fixed subsidy toward coverage, creating greater year-over-year budget predictability while still offering employees meaningful plan choice. In practice, this model helps organizations plan more confidently for future costs while avoiding the volatility of traditional premium increases.
Employers using this approach have seen a $696 average HCM premium savings, underscoring the financial impact of predictable contribution strategies.

Empowering employees to choose the right coverage

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Choice doesn’t always mean better outcomes if employees don’t know what to choose. Guidance matters.

Within a private marketplace, employees can shop across standardized plans offered by both national and regional carriers. This structure helps reduce unnecessary over-buying and encourages more informed decision-making.

Employee response supports this approach:
%
of employees report liking
having carrier choice
%
report satisfaction with
the BenX experience
This data underscores the importance of choice and tools that help employees understand coverage that aligns with their needs.

Reducing complexity with integrated solutions

Employers are also grappling with the growing number of point solutions required to support healthcare—virtual care, behavioral health, pharmacy, maternity, and more.
Private marketplaces like BenX consolidate these services through the carrier ecosystem, reducing the need for employers to source and manage solutions independently. This integration can help lower administrative burden and improve the overall employee experience.

Where Businessolver enhances the marketplace experience

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Technology plays a critical role in making private marketplaces work—especially during enrollment.
Through Businessolver’s anticipatory benefits experience, BenX is delivered within a consumer‑centric enrollment platform designed to guide employees through complex choices with confidence. Decision support tools, plan comparisons, and personalized recommendations help employees select coverage that fits both their needs and budget.
By helping employees right‑size their coverage, guided enrollment supports better outcomes for both employees and employers—reducing confusion, regret, and unnecessary premium spend.

90%

of employees use decision support tools

88%

use “Help Me Choose” in their first year

Female coworkers laughing together

Unified insights across plans and carriers

With centralized analytics across carriers and plans, employers gain visibility into healthcare performance that’s often difficult to achieve in traditional models.
This enables organizations to:
• Evaluate contribution strategies
• Track year-over-year savings
• Identify emerging cost drivers
• Measure employee engagement and satisfaction
These insights help employers move from reactive cost management to more anticipatory, data-informed decision-making.

The employer impact today

According to Aon benchmarking across more than 1,000 health clients, organizations implementing BenX have experienced:

5-8%

first‑year savings

1%

lower annual trend over a five-year average compared to Aon’s HVI benchmark

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On the employee side:

86%

satisfaction

94%

prefer choosing their own carrier

86%

feel confident they selected the best plan

Three male coworkers discussing a meeting

Rethinking healthcare benefits for what’s next

Healthcare costs are rising, and don’t show any signs of slowing down soon.
Rather than relying on short‑term fixes, many employers are reevaluating how benefits are designed, delivered, and experienced.
Private benefits marketplaces—supported by defined contribution strategies, regional carrier competition, and guided enrollment—offer a path toward more sustainable cost control without sacrificing employee choice or satisfaction.
For employers navigating an increasingly complex healthcare landscape, the question is no longer whether change is needed—but which models are best equipped to support the future of work.
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