HEALTH BENEFITS

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You’ve got to start somewhere. And when it comes to healthcare spend, you really do need to do something.

The average cost of health benefits is expected to climb 6.7% in 2026, placing cost growth at a 15-year high, according to a national survey of employer-sponsored health plans from Mercer, a global professional services firm.

“The current elevated cost trend, which began in 2023 following a decade of growth averaging only about 3% annually, is putting mounting pressure on benefit budgets and, in some organizations, beginning to affect broader business operations,” the report noted.

And—trust—that’s been stressing CFOs out: A third of finance chiefs Mercer polled in February 2026 ranked healthcare costs as one of their top three opex concerns. Compare that with the 19% who ranked health benefit costs as a top three concern in 2024, and you get a sense of the growing problem.

Maybe, just maybe, you’re one of those stressed-out CFOs. Well, you’ve come to the right article.

Incremental. The first step is simply taking a step, according to Marybeth Gray, SVP of health and welfare consulting at MarshMcLennan Agency.

A multiyear cost management plan helps with more disruptive changes.—NP

      

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INTEREST RATES

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Kevin Warsh wanted a fight. Well, at the very least, he wanted a gentle disagreement, perhaps of the “Dad technically won the Scrabble game, not little brother Billy” variety.

Previously, the Federal Reserve chair had expressed hope for “a good family fight” when it comes to rate policy, saying in a June 17 press conference that the result of that “fight” should ultimately “make the discussion we have internally better, stronger, more of a dialectic, so that we can finally deliver on that price stability objective.”

It wasn’t his first time using the phrase: Warsh also used the same “family fight” analogy at his Senate confirmation hearing, per CNBC.

So, did that desired family fight end in an overturned Scrabble board and tears, or reconciliatory hugs? It’s a bit hard to say. (Also, not exactly the vibe of the Federal Open Market Committee.)

In any case, the minutes of the June 16–17 FOMC meeting released on July 8 showed there was some gentle disagreement: Fed officials were split on where the fed funds rate would be by year’s end.

Though the committee unanimously agreed to keep interest rates steady in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%, which was the first vote since June 2025 that lacked opposition, there was less unanimity when it came to their outlooks.

Fed communications may become shorter and simpler.—NP

      

REVENUE GROWTH

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The summer months can impact any organization’s GTM strategy, with holidays and vacations stalling deals and slowing momentum. According to ZoomInfo, the summer activity lull could cost companies up to $400,000 in new business. So is there a way for sales teams to push through and avoid the seasonal blip?

“It’s not so much [that] deals slow down—activity kind of slows down and there’s a lag,” Trindl Reeves, chief revenue officer at insurance brokerage and consulting firm Marsh McLennan Agency, said. “What we do today is going to help us in Q1, so it’s important that the activity, as far as new business appointments and those kinds of things, are happening now.”

CROs and sales leaders have taken note of this trend and factored it into their yearly planning.

Slow and steady. Some CROs are taking advantage of the slower period and refocusing attention on things they might not normally have the time to do. According to Bill Warshauer, CRO of rewards and incentives platform Tillo, this time can give CROs a chance to reevaluate priorities and make sure their team is on track to hit goals.

Focus on filling the future pipeline, Revenue Brew reports.—LI

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat. $9.6 billion. The reported price the Khosla family is paying to acquire the NFL’s defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks. The late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, bought the team in 1997 for $194 million. (CNBC)

Quote. “This merger will snuff out competition, drive up prices, diminish content quality, and produce fewer movies and shows each year.”—California Attorney General Rob Bonta, announcing a 12-state lawsuit to stop the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger (The Hollywood Reporter)

Read. Zurich and Geneva led the list of 69 cities with the highest disposable incomes, beating out San Francisco, according to Deutsche Bank Research Institute’s survey, “Mapping the World’s Prices.” (Bloomberg)

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Jobs

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