In 2026, medical costs for employers are forecasted to increase significantly, while access to care is fast becoming a greater challenge for workers and their families. To address these challenges, public and private employers are moving to adopt more aggressive “employer-managed” health benefit strategies.
Direct contracting for medical care, especially through employer-sponsored health centers, is a key strategy to manage rising medical, pharmacy, and occupational healthcare costs, while providing easy and no or low-cost access to primary and specialty care services.
A new report released today by Alliant Insurance Services and the National Association for Workplace Health Care (NAWHC), a nonprofit trade association for employers who sponsor and vendors who manage worksite health centers, reveals the directions employers will be taking in 2026.
According to the 2025 National Worksite Health Center Survey Report:
- In 2026, 28% of employers with health centers say they will add health centers in other locations and 54% plan on increasing the services or staff to the health center they have today.
- Among the primary reasons for sponsoring health centers:
- 98% of employers report “patient access” as an important objective in offering their health center. This is likely due to national trends related to shortages of primary care physicians and a growing understanding of the value of independent, high quality primary care and its impact on total cost of care. Providing access doesn’t stop with employees. 70% of employers offer access to covered dependents. 28% of employers provide access to retirees.
- 100% of employers with centers indicated that improving the quality of care was their major objective.
- 99% reported that increasing patient satisfaction/experience was a key reason to offer centers.
- Interestingly, reducing medical and pharmacy costs were rated fifth-most important, with 89% stating it as a key objective in making a clinic available.
Employer health centers offer an expanding array of services, from comprehensive primary care to occupational health. 81% of employers offer immunizations and screenings onsite. 74% offer onsite lab services, which can provide convenience to any eligible member who requires regular lab work. 72% offer primary care preventive exams and 59% offer occupational health services. Behavioral health services continue to increase as an offered service, jumping to 45% from just 30% in 2021.
“Employer health centers are a strong foundation for an employer total worker health strategy,” said David Keyt, National Director of Employer Health Centers at Alliant. “Employers are facing double-digit medical cost trend increases and looking for solutions. Directly contracted worksite and near-site care models have been a proven strategy that delivers significant value on investment.”
Key guidelines for employers that provide health centers or plan to provide health centers in the future include:
- Employers should design models that fit their specific healthcare ecosystem while staying true to best practice standards for Advanced Primary Care models.
- New technology, including virtual care, can be leveraged to scale solutions. Population size and physical proximity to an onsite clinic are no longer limiting factors to achieving value on investment.
Larry Boress, Executive Director of NAWHC, stated: “A healthy and productive workforce is vital to every successful industry. Employers can no longer wait for the health system to respond to the quality, cost, and access problems facing their organizations and workers. The adoption of aggressive health benefit strategies will be key to meeting today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”
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