Top Workplaces 2026: Benefit winners buck health insurance trends

For over 25 years, a shared malady has afflicted American employers and their employees — an escalation in the cost of health insurance that has dramatically outpaced inflation and earnings.

Health insurance premiums have increased at three times the rate of workers’ earnings since 1999, according to a recent economic analysis by researchers from Rice University and the Baylor School of Medicine. The average cost of family health insurance premiums went up by 342%, while inflation rose 64%. And since about 60% of non-elderly Americans are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, both workers and workplaces are on the hook.

As premium prices jump again next year, many employers are considering shifting more costs to employees, either by raising deductibles, increasing employee contributions to premiums, increasing out-of-pocket maximums or excluding some expensive prescription drugs from the plans they sponsor, according to a June survey by Mercer. Around two-thirds of employers with more than 500 employees told Mercer they’re likely or very likely to increase employee contributions to monthly premiums next year.

While economic forces don’t exempt Top Workplaces, many are doing their best to shield their workers from the health insurance storm – and those workers appreciate it, according to the surveys administered by Energage, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s research partner in the Top Workplaces competition.

Across employers, workers who praised their health insurance in Top Workplaces surveys emphasized feelings of peace, safety and being cared for. Their responses reflect the fact that health insurance is a leading worry for Americans — more than the cost of groceries, utilities or housing, according to a January poll by the Pearson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

At RISE Partnership, a union worker-founded nonprofit, one employee expressed deep gratitude at having — for the first time — a job with fully paid health insurance, paid time off and a 401K retirement plan.

“It changed my life … I wake up every day and feel like I hit the lottery,” the worker wrote. “Now I am terrified to lose my job because nothing will compare. There are no jobs like this one that will provide the same feeling of stability, of accomplishment, and safety.”

Employees showered praise on Fisher Investments, which won the competition’s special award for benefits this year, as well as in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The Texas-based company employs more than 1,900 at its 200-acre campus in Camas. It pays 100% of its workers’ health insurance premiums for medical, dental and vision coverage – not only for employees, but also their family members, according to the company’s website.

“As a parent, I can’t express how thankful I am for the health insurance,” one employee wrote. “It’s incredible and unheard of,” added another. The benefits “are phenomenal, which gives me peace of mind that I cannot stress enough,” wrote a third.

Fisher says providing exceptional benefits is simply a cost of doing business and taking care of employees; the company does not compare its benefits to national trends, said Fisher Associate Vice President of Total Rewards Moriah Del Puerto.

“We don’t pay much attention to others,” Del Puerto said. “We’re committed to our clients and employees.”

Another repeat benefits award winner is General Pacific in Fairview, with 80 employees. The wholesale distributor serves electrical utility, water utility and contractor markets. General Pacific won the Top Workplaces benefits award in 2022 and 2024 and provides what some workers describe as the Cadillac of benefit packages. Employees also praise a stellar company culture, where managers find good people to hire and trust them to do good work.

“We believe that taking care of our customers means taking care of our employees first,” the company said in its Top Workplaces profile. “Once employees find GenPac, they tend to stay until retirement.”

The nonprofit Tillamook People’s Utility District won the Top Workplaces benefits award in 2025; its 83 employees serve around 21,000 electric customers. Tillamook PUD pays 92% of employee medical, vision and dental insurance premiums; employees pay the rest with untaxed money through a cafeteria plan. The district also pays 100% of long-term disability insurance.

“We have seen increases (in insurance costs) like everybody else,” said Tillamook PUD Human Resources Manager Shane Stuart. But as expenses rise across the board, “we prioritize where we want to spend our money. Investing in our people is one of the most important things we can do.”

Fundamentally, Stuart said, investing in good employees is the best way for the utility to protect and care for its community.

There are many factors in the utility’s health insurance calculation: its access to well-priced health plans for public employees, its negotiations with the union representing electrical workers and the dangers faced by many employees, from high voltage power lines to severe weather to extreme heights.

But a major motive is attracting and retaining good workers; the utility has very low turnover and many workers stay until retirement.

“The utility industry is competitive. Linemen can go anywhere, engineers can go anywhere,” Stuart said. “Being on the northern Oregon coast, it can be difficult to recruit and keep staff. We make sure we evaluate benefits and pay to offer the best that we can.”

The utility also looks for ways to offer new worker benefits, as does Deltek, another Top Workplaces winner this year. A large Virginia-based enterprise software company, Deltek has about 110 employees working remotely in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Deltek is adding to its benefits menu, expanding beyond traditional healthcare and retirement with additional resources for mental health, family planning, wellness, flexible leave and professional development. It currently offers fertility benefits, access to telemedicine, mental health sessions and free virtual fitness classes.

When employees feel supported in various aspects of their lives, they are more likely to be increasingly productive and more likely to seek a long-term career, said Elaine Hess, a senior director of global benefits, human resources information studies and human resources operations at Deltek.

“Recruitment and retention certainly matter, but we see benefits as part of a much broader investment in our people,” Hess said.

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