BenchmarkThe average employer overspends on benefits annually
Benchmark analysis based on 847 mid-market audits (2022–2025). Individual results vary.
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What your competitors
already know.
Real benchmarks from 847 audits. The numbers that make CFOs sit up and reach for their phone.
Median employer contribution, PPO plan
Companies paying above this threshold in their industry are subsidizing carrier margin, not employee care.
480-employee manufacturing firm, Ohio
Contributing $8,900/yr — 27% above industry median
Restructured plan design. Saved $662K in Year 1.
2025 Industry Benchmarks
2025 Mid-Market Benefits Benchmarking Report
68 pages. 847 companies. The data your broker doesn't want you to see.
Four places money
disappears every year.
Every audit finds at least two of these. Most find all four. The question is how much is yours.
You're paying 2021 rates in 2025
Most carriers reprice at renewal only if asked. Without a formal RFP, your rates compound on a base that was never competitive.
Your PBM contract has 14 hidden spread lines
Pharmacy Benefit Managers earn margin on the spread between what they pay pharmacies and what they charge you. Carve-out analysis routinely uncovers 15–25% savings.
Attachment set for the carrier, not your risk profile
Stop-loss is the most under-scrutinized line in a self-funded program. Attachment points, aggregates, and lasering decisions compound into six-figure swings annually.
Rich benefits, poor utilization — the worst combination
Overly generous plan design drives adverse selection and moral hazard. The right design rewards healthy behavior without reducing access.
Combined Opportunity
Total annual recovery range for 200–500 employee companies in our 2024 audit cohort
Numbers that changed
the conversation.
Benchmark found $847K we were leaving on the table. Not hypothetical — actual recoverable dollars across carrier pricing, pharmacy, and stop-loss. The audit paid for itself in the first month.
Our broker had been renewing the same package for four years. Benchmark came in, ran the numbers, and showed us exactly why our renewal kept climbing. We changed brokers and restructured within 90 days.
Three candidates turned down offers citing benefits. That's what finally got our CEO's attention. Benchmark showed us we were spending more than competitors and offering less. That math doesn't work.
Your renewal is a deadline,
not a formality.
Companies that engage Benchmark 90+ days before renewal recover 2.3× more than those who start at 60 days. The clock is running.