Amwins Benefits rolls out inaugural market report

By AI, Created 1:30 PM UTC, May 22, 2026, /AGP/ – Amwins Benefits has released its first comprehensive State of the Market Report, expanding beyond stop-loss to cover the full employee benefits landscape. The Charlotte-based division says the report is meant to give brokers, consultants and carriers a single guide to pricing, trends and strategy across a market facing higher costs and tighter underwriting.

Why it matters: - Amwins Benefits is packaging its market intelligence into one report that spans more of the employee benefits stack, not just stop-loss. - The report is aimed at brokers, consultants, third-party administrators and carrier partners that need faster readouts on pricing, claims and coverage decisions. - The timing matters because benefits markets are facing higher medical and drug costs, tighter carrier underwriting and more frequent rate disruption.

What happened: - Amwins Benefits released its inaugural State of the Market Report on May 26, 2026. - The report expands the annual stop-loss-focused publication into a broader guide covering employee benefits market intelligence, trend analysis and strategic guidance. - The Charlotte-based Amwins division says the new edition draws on its $11.7 billion book of business across small to mid-market, ancillary, retiree healthcare, self-funded health and stop-loss. - President Riva Dumeny said the report is designed to unify market intelligence across every solution vertical and give brokers, consultants and clients a clearer view of the benefits landscape.

The details: - The report highlights medical inflation, regulatory changes and healthcare-specific cost pressures as drivers of market change. - Medical inflation stalled after COVID relative to overall inflation, then began rising again in 2024. - Government policies and legislation tied to transparency, trade, tariffs and enhanced premium tax credits are affecting the market in real time. - The report projects a 6% to 9% median medical plan cost trend increase this year, which could be the highest annual renewal projection in more than a decade. - Carriers are using medical cost trends of 10% to 12% in formula renewals and building in buffers for volatility and high-cost claims. - Prescription drugs are the largest projected driver of plan increases, at 11%. - Specialty drugs account for less than 2% of prescriptions but nearly 50% of total drug spend. - In the self-funded market, weaker groups are seeing rate-cap increases at renewal or being declined, while strong risks are drawing intense competition and sometimes lower rates. - Self-funding and level funding continue to gain interest among small to mid-market fully insured groups. - The stop-loss market is growing at a 15% compound annual rate and is projected to reach $113.5 billion by 2034. - In the small to mid-market fully insured segment, major carriers are pointing to losses, weaker risk pools and higher utilization as reasons for above-average rate increases. - Those conditions are contributing to fewer regional carrier options, rate volatility, network disruption and a decline in the ACA market segment. - Employers in that segment are exploring program business, level-funded, alternative risk and captive solutions. - In the PEO market, the five largest providers account for more than 51% of the market, and less than 3% of the U.S. workforce is enrolled in that structure. - More than half of PEO clients are concentrated in Florida, California, New York and Texas. - The publicly traded PEO index posted low-single-digit growth over the past year, while broker-driven growth is expanding quickly. - In ancillary benefits, employees want more choice and customization, but administration is becoming more labor-intensive. - The combined statutory and private paid-leave market is described as a multi-billion-dollar U.S. opportunity. - Mental and behavioral health integration and digitally accessible solutions are expected to keep shaping ancillary benefits. - In retiree healthcare, COVID-era pauses in elective procedures helped create later rate turbulence as hospital and outpatient use rebounded. - Retirees are also facing higher prescription drug costs and broader healthcare inflation. - Employers are reworking retiree offerings through carve-outs and other strategies to reduce savings pressure and liability. - The full report is available for download.

Between the lines: - The report signals that Amwins Benefits is trying to move from a narrow product lens to a broader advisory platform. - The focus on self-funding, captive solutions and carve-outs suggests employers are looking for more tools to manage volatility instead of simply absorbing higher renewals. - The heavy emphasis on drug spend, especially specialty drugs, points to where cost pressure is most acute.

What’s next: - Amwins Benefits is positioning the report as an ongoing resource for brokers and consultants heading into future renewals. - Employers and intermediaries are likely to keep evaluating alternative funding structures as rate pressure and utilization trends persist. - The company says the report will help partners build stronger, more resilient plans for employers and employees.