Bnchmrk launches stats hub built on verified employer health plan data

Bnchmrk has launched Benchmark Stats, a monthly research hub that uses document-verified plan data from more than 14,000 employers to show how U.S. companies design and fund health benefits. The hub is aimed at HR leaders, benefits advisors, and journalists looking for market comparisons by industry and state.

Why it matters: - Benchmark Stats gives employers and benefits advisers a way to compare health plan design against a dataset based on actual plan documents, not survey responses. - The hub covers national trends, 60+ industries, and all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. - The release positions document-verified data as an alternative to the survey-based benchmarks that shape much of the benefits market.

What happened: - Bnchmrk launched Benchmark Stats, a research hub at bnchmrk.com/stats. - The hub publishes key findings from Bnchmrk’s verified employer plan data. - The data tracks how U.S. employers design and fund health benefits. - The hub is refreshed monthly. - Bnchmrk says the hub is available for HR leaders, benefits advisors, and journalists to reference and cite.

The details: - Bnchmrk’s dataset is built from employers’ actual plan documents. - Benchmark Stats shows market-wide trends across industries and states. - The current data shows PPOs are the most common medical plan, offered by 41% of employers. - HDHPs follow at 35%. - Accounting and tax firms lead all industries in HDHP adoption at 44%. - Ohio leads all states, with 47% of employers offering an HDHP. - The hub also tracks whether employers fund plans as fully insured, self-funded, or level-funded. - Benchmark Stats also shows how many plan options employers offer employees. - Bnchmrk’s proprietary dataset separately tracks premiums and employee contributions by plan type and coverage tier. - That separate dataset includes plans already set for 2027. - Those cost figures are not published on Benchmark Stats. - As a sample, the median retail employee pays about $11,379 a year for family PPO coverage. - That is 42% more than the median tech employee’s $8,031. - The retail plan’s full premium is lower. - Journalists can request data on specific industries, states, and employer sizes at press@bnchmrk.com. - Bnchmrk also points readers to the full release and data chart on its website.

Between the lines: - Bnchmrk is trying to make its verified dataset a reference point for the benefits industry. - The company is also distinguishing between plan-design data that is public in Benchmark Stats and cost data that remains available on request. - The retail and tech example shows how employee out-of-pocket costs can diverge even when total premiums move differently.

What's next: - Benchmark Stats will continue updating monthly. - Bnchmrk expects the hub to be used as a recurring benchmark source for plan design comparisons. - Journalists and other users can request more detailed cuts of the data by industry, state, and employer size.

The bottom line: - Bnchmrk is packaging verified employer plan documents into a public benchmarking hub meant to show how health benefits are actually structured across the U.S.