A SHRM article published on 11 May 2026 reports findings from the organisation’s April 2026 pulse survey. It says 27% of US workers identified high out-of-pocket costs as their primary complaint about current benefits. Separately, 52% of HR professionals identified costs such as premiums and deductibles as the primary benefits issue affecting employees.

Those percentages describe different respondent groups and questions. They are not a single prevalence rate and do not establish the financial circumstances of every employee. The findings provide a reason to examine affordability alongside an employer’s own benefit cost and plan-design review.

Examine what the employee actually pays This editor recommends reviewing the components employees encounter rather than relying on one headline contribution figure. The team should identify which payments occur regularly and which depend on using a service. A comparison between plan options should explain those differences in language employees can understand, with clear definitions for the examples presented.

The employer can ask whether its communication enables someone to identify the relevant coverage, estimate a known payment and find help with an unexpected question. An administrator’s existing tools may address part of that task, but the employer should understand what those tools explain and where a person is directed when an issue remains unresolved. A useful review follows the practical route an employee would take.

Assess a change on both sides of the plan A proposal that reduces the employer’s expenditure should identify how it affects member payments and access. This editor recommends placing those effects in the same decision record. The organisation can then distinguish a change in financing from a reduction in the overall cost of providing care, and make the employee implications visible to the people approving the design.

Employee feedback can help identify confusing information or an administrative obstacle. It should be collected through an appropriate process and interpreted alongside programme data, rather than treated as a substitute for a financial assessment. The team should explain what each source of evidence can show and how it informs the proposed action.

The SHRM findings bring employee affordability into the 2026 discussion. For an employer, the next step is to examine its own payment structure and communication, then assess proposed changes using evidence that makes both employer and employee consequences clear.

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