Remote Work Shifts Healthcare Priorities for Younger Employees, Survey Finds

As remote work reshapes the modern workforce, there’s a growing opportunity for healthcare plans to evolve and better meet the needs of today’s employees. A new survey from MagnaCare reveals a generational divide in healthcare access, with younger remote workers more often navigating out-of-network challenges, leading to dissatisfaction and higher personal costs—and ultimately, influencing them to switch jobs.

The 2025 MagnaCare Network Rental Survey polled 600 remote workers living outside their employer’s state. Conducted via the third-party survey platform Pollfish, the study explores how geographic differences in provider networks are challenging traditional employer-sponsored health plans and highlights an opportunity for insurers to adapt and better support today’s evolving workforce.

The survey’s data showed clear opportunities for insurers to modernize benefits and better serve remote workers—especially younger employees—with key findings that include:

• Coverage gaps hit younger remote workers hardest: 59% of Millennials and Gen Z employees report relying on out-of-network care due to their remote work location—significantly higher than the 46% average across all age groups.
• Evolving healthcare needs are influencing job-switch considerations: 79% of younger remote workers have considered leaving their jobs due to healthcare coverage concerns. Among them, 36% say healthcare is a major factor in job decisions, with another 44% citing it as a contributing factor.
• Remote-first networks should better meet key care needs: 63% of remote workers say their health plans haven’t adapted to remote work realities, especially when it comes to accessing specialists and mental healthcare—two of the most underserved areas reported.
• Remote workers are open to change if it means better care: 76% of workers aged 18–44 say they would consider switching to a remote-optimized health plan if it offered better provider access, even if it came with higher premiums.
• Network rental emerges as a data-backed solution to remote care gaps: With 63% of remote workers saying their current health plans aren’t keeping up with remote work, and specialist (35%) and mental health (31%) services cited as the most inaccessible, network rental offers a targeted and powerful fix. By temporarily partnering with local provider networks in underserved areas, insurers can expand in-network access where it’s needed most—without the cost or complexity of building new networks from scratch.

“Remote work isn’t a trend anymore—it’s the new reality. But too many health plans are built around the workforce of yesterday, not today,” said Michelle Zettergren, President, Labor and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, MagnaCare. “Network coverage gaps are hurting satisfaction, driving up out-of-network costs, and even pushing employees to consider new jobs. Carriers and TPAs face an exciting opportunity as a result, as network rental is one of the smartest tools they can use right now. It’s flexible and gets care to people where they actually live—not where the office happens to be. If carriers and TPAs want to stay competitive and retain employer clients, adapting to the remote workforce isn’t optional; it’s the key to delivering meaningful value, boosting loyalty, and future-proofing their offerings.”

As more companies embrace hybrid and remote-first models, the healthcare landscape must evolve in parallel. MagnaCare’s findings point to the potential of a new era of healthcare where flexibility, access, and smarter networks define how plans deliver value to employers and remote employees alike. The opportunity for insurers is not just to adapt, but also, to lead.