Early responses from a major Mercer survey indicate U.S. employers expect that per-employee group health benefit costs will increase by 4 percent on average in 2017, after they make planned changes such as raising deductibles or switching carriers. Notably, the projected underlying cost growth from 2016 to 2017 before changes is at a new low of just 5.5 percent. According to Mercer, the small difference between the underlying cost growth and the actual cost growth for 2017 suggests employers do not plan to do much cost-shifting. Also, employers may do less cost-cutting next year because of the delay in the effective date of the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax on high-cost plans from 2018 to 2020, which was announced in December. Employers have held cost growth to about 4 percent or less each year since 2011. Prior to that, costs rose by about 6 percent a year for seven years. Mercer leaders noted that health benefit cost increases are still double to triple the inflation rate, however.