Recent polls have pointed to medical practice leaders finding more retention tactics to help stabilize their staffing plans. Still, leaders must actively work on employee benefits beyond the routine open-enrollment exercise in light of three pressures — rising health plan costs, continuously intense competition for staff, and a workforce that increasingly evaluates total compensation and not just paycheck alone — converging very sharply. 

What you told us 

Our June 9, 2026, MGMA Stat poll finds 85% of medical practices held employee benefit offerings about the same since 2025 (69%) or expanded or increased them (16%). Only 15% reported decreased benefit offerings. The poll had 287 applicable responses. 

• In practices adding or expanding benefits, leaders most frequently reported expanding paid leave/PTO and holiday structures, alongside investments in healthcare benefits (improved coverage, lower deductibles, HSA contributions, and access like direct primary care). There was also a strong emphasis on wellness initiatives — ranging from general programs to more tangible offerings (e.g., wellness credits, massages, on-site services) — often paired with enhancements to retirement benefits (401k match) and supporting benefits like disability or dental. 
• In practices with benefits largely unchanged, most respondents indicated no planned changes, largely because they believe their current benefits are already competitive. Among those considering updates, focus areas centered on health insurance affordability (cost, coverage, employee contributions), along with pay, PTO, and retirement benefits, though these considerations are often constrained by rising costs and budget pressures. Sentiment from these practice leaders skewed cautious, with some organizations even anticipating benefit reductions rather than enhancements due to financial realities. 
• In practices where benefit offerings shrank, the decreases were overwhelmingly driven by rising healthcare costs, with organizations shifting more financial burden to employees through higher premiums, deductibles, copays, and reduced employer contributions. Many also reported reduced coverage or plan changes (e.g., narrower networks, less generous benefits). Several practice leaders noted they face the strain on morale as a result, noting frustration with affordability and the tradeoff between maintaining benefits and controlling costs. 

The cost backdrop 

Health benefit costs per employee were expected to rise 6.7% in 2026 — the steepest increase in 15 years — pushing the average total above $18,500 per employee. Without cost-control steps, the jump might have been closer to 9%, driven largely by rising pharmacy costs, especially GLP-1 drugs. 

Employers are again looking at shifting more costs to employees, with more planning changes and higher deductibles than in recent years. Smaller and midsize groups often feel this more sharply since they have fewer insurance options, less premium-negotiating power, limited ability to self-fund or layer in stop-loss coverage, and thinner operating margins to absorb a 6% to 7% increase without passing some costs along to employees.  

Where healthcare employers stand out — and where they lag 

SHRM's 2025 Employee Benefits Survey, based on responses from 3,969 HR professionals, shows how healthcare employers compare to the broader market. In several retention-focused areas, healthcare and social assistance employers stand out: 36% offer shift premiums compared with 28% of all businesses, 28% offer retention bonuses versus 20%, and 17% offer student loan repayment versus 8%. The industry also more often offers leave cashout and donation programs, along with flexible break timing for staff with scheduled breaks. 

At the same time, healthcare lags in other benefits:  

• Only 25% offer parental leave compared to 39% across industries. 
• Incentive bonuses are less common (38% versus 51%). 
• Some coverage areas also declined in 2025, including chiropractic (down 9 percentage points to 61%), contraceptive (down 6 points to 71%), and mental health coverage (down 5 points to 85%).  

Leadership development in the SHRM study also moved the other way, with 48% of healthcare employers offering executive or leadership coaching in 2025, up 6 points from 2024, and 25% offered formal mentoring, up 4 points. Overall, this pattern suggests healthcare employers are focusing spending on benefits most tied to retention — shift pay, bonuses, loan support, and stronger management — while pulling back in other coverage areas due to the cost pressures. 

Where the attention is moving in 2026 

Industry research suggests benefits are becoming more targeted even as budgets tighten. Most HR leaders (88%) in SHRM's 2025 survey rate health benefits as "extremely" or "very" important, with leave and retirement tied for second at 81%. But fewer employers now offer wellness programs and medical flexible spending accounts (FSAs) than just a few years ago:  

• Wellness program prevalence slipped from 53% in 2021 to 39% in 2025.  
• Medical flexible spending account offerings dropped from 68% to 60% over the same window, and dependent-care FSAs from 65% to 54%. 

Mental health support is expanding on paper — Mercer's 2026 strategy survey reports more than 75% of large employers will offer digital stress management or resiliency resources in 2026, and nearly 40% conduct mental health training for managers — yet 45% of employees still say they feel stressed most days at work, suggesting gaps in how these benefits are used and integrated. 

At the same time, SHRM data shows caregiver leave (31% for immediate family, 17% for extended family) and flexible work (down slightly to 68%) are slipping, even as workforce demand for flexibility and caregiving support continues to rise. 

Today’s workforce realities 

Industry research keeps reinforcing why benefits cannot be evaluated in isolation. Gallup's latest State of the Global Workplace report puts U.S. employee engagement at 31% — an 11-year low — with about half of employees either watching for or actively seeking a new job. Manager engagement also declined, from 30% to 27%, which is especially important in medical practices where front-line managers carry the day-to-day weight of retention. 

MGMA's 2025 Management and Staff Compensation data report, based on data from more than 4,300 medical groups, highlighted that practices have already been pulling hard on compensation. The report showed double-digit pay growth in revenue cycle, HR, IT, management and nursing roles, along with greater use of hiring bonuses, retention perks and richer benefits to keep key staff. It also pointed to internal pay compression, where some long-tenured employees now earn less than newer hires in the same role. That compression connects directly to benefits decisions and retention: when pay increases lean toward attracting new hires, benefits become one of the more practical ways to show commitment to the employees already in place. 

Beyond benefit richness 

One of the more overlooked moves for practice leaders is improving the perceived value of the benefits package. SHRM and Mercer research consistently show a gap between what employers provide and what employees recognize: most staff know their hourly wage or base salary, but often cannot estimate the employer-paid share of premiums, the dollar value of accrued PTO, the retirement match they may miss, or the availability of EAP, disability coverage, tuition assistance, and paid holidays already included. 

A total-rewards statement — an annual summary of employer-paid contributions across each benefit category, ideally shared at hiring, during open enrollment, and on work anniversaries — often can deliver more retention impact per dollar than introducing a new benefit. The same applies to underused programs: an EAP that goes unused is just a cost line, not a true benefit, and the solution is usually better communication and manager reinforcement rather than adding another vendor contract. 

Matching benefits to workforce risk 

Staff are not all the same, and the benefits that help retain each group can vary: 

• Front-desk staff and medical assistants often prioritize predictable schedules, affordable health premiums and steady PTO accrual.  
• Billing and revenue cycle staff, who are increasingly recruited for remote roles, tend to value strong retirement matches, paid leave, and remote-flex options where possible.  
• Nursing and clinical staff may place higher importance on access to mental health services and continuing education or tuition support.  
• Early-career employees may focus on student loan assistance, where healthcare employers already stand out versus the broader market.  
• Caregivers across age groups tend to value dependent care support and schedule flexibility; later-career employees prioritize retirement-plan design and healthcare affordability ahead of most other items. 

The strongest 2026 benefits package may not be the most generous overall, but rather one best aligned to the groups most at risk of leaving: hard-to-fill clinical support roles, RCM continuity, front-office access positions, and the practice managers carrying the retention load for everyone else. Practices that identify the few roles where turnover would cause the most disruption are better positioned to target benefits strategically, rather than trying to compete everywhere at once. 

A compliance note worth remembering 

Benefits decisions are not just workforce choices — they involve plan administration and regulatory requirements. Changes to eligibility rules, contribution levels, leave policies, wellness initiatives, retirement plans, or mental health and substance-use disorder coverage may all trigger compliance considerations under ERISA, the ACA, MHPAEA, HIPAA, state leave laws, and other relevant regulations.  

Because of this, material plan-design changes generally should be reviewed with the practice’s benefits broker, plan administrator, and employment counsel before being communicated to employees. 

Conclusion 

For administrators planning benefits for the coming year, don’t debate richer versus leaner. It’s about taking a balanced approach: what to protect, what to expand, what to reduce, and what to communicate better.  

• The benefits worth protecting are usually those that clearly support retention in roles the practice cannot afford to lose. Expanding benefits, when budgets allow, is easiest to justify when it addresses a clear gap for a group at higher risk of leaving. 
• When reductions are unavoidable, employees tend to accept them more readily if they are paired with straightforward communication and offset by improvements elsewhere in the benefits package. At the same time, many practices overlook the value of better explaining what they already offer — often the most cost-effective way to improve retention. 

This week’s poll highlights the tradeoffs leaders are making; as decisions come together, it is just as important to think through how to explain those choices to the employees you need to retain. 

Notes: 

1. Medical Group Management Association. 2025 MGMA Management and Staff Compensation Data Report: Talent Tug-of-War: Budget Breakers and Opportunity Makers. Published June 30, 2025. https://www.mgma.com/2025-management-staff-compensation 
2. Society for Human Resource Management. “Flexible work benefits slightly decline, while healthcare and retirement plans remain top priority, new SHRM benefits survey finds.” Published June 30, 2025. https://www.shrm.org/about/press-room/flexible-work-benefits-slightly-decline--while-healthcare-and-re 
3. Society for Human Resource Management. “Health care, social services keep workers with perks, flexibility.” Published September 26, 2025. https://www.shrm.org/enterprise-solutions/insights/health-care-social-services-keep-workers-with-perks 
4. Mercer. “US employers and workers will face affordability crunch as health insurance cost is expected to exceed $18,500 per employee in 2026.” Published November 18, 2025. https://www.mercer.com/en-us/about/newsroom/employers-and-workers-face-affordability-crunch-as-health-insurnace-cost-is-expected-to-exceed-18500-per-employee-in-2026/ 
5. Mercer. “Employers prepare for the highest health benefit cost increase in 15 years.” Published September 2025. https://www.mercer.com/en-us/insights/us-health-news/employers-prepare-for-the-highest-health-benefit-cost-increase-in-15-years/ 
6. Mercer. “As health benefit costs continue to surge, Mercer’s research reveals that employers face tough decisions regarding their 2026 benefit offerings.” Published July 16, 2025. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250716830457/en/As-health-benefit-costs-continue-to-surge-Mercers-research-reveals-that-employers-face-tough-decisions-regarding-their-2026-benefit-offerings 
7. Gallup. “The benefits of employee engagement.” Updated 2026. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-drives-growth.aspx