Patton Insurance Benefits

08/24/2026

Another tough year ahead for employer health costs
by Adriel Bettelheim

Employers who've been reeling from near double-digit health cost increases the past three years can expect more of the same in 2027, according to new projections from benefits consultant Aon.

Why it matters: Companies and their workers are locked in one of the most sustained periods of health care inflation in decades — and the trend lines are sure to intensify affordability concerns.

Driving the news: Rising demand for health services, more chronic disease and increased use of drugs like GLP-1s will help drive up employer health costs 9.5% next year — to more than $19,000 per employee, Aon said.

Workers this year are expected to pay an average of $5,297 for health coverage, counting payroll contributions and out-of-pocket spending. That's $388 more than in 2025.

There's also more cost pressure from the increased use of AI in billing and coding, which leads to more detailed documentation and contributes to higher charges in some cases.

The big picture: Employer health care cost increases have more than doubled since 2022, rising from 3.7% to 8.8% in 2026.

https://www.axios.com/2026/08/20/health-care-costs-employers-rising

Near double-digit health cost increases are set to continue in 2027.

08/17/2026

Family Dollar Is Closing, So Is the Nearest Pharmacy - Here's What "Retail Deserts" Are Doing to Small-Town Retirees

Rural areas are the hardest hit.

By Amanda Machado , Edited by Calista Headrick

There are few things more devastating to a small community than the closure of the local pharmacy. In Heber-Overgaard, Arizona, this happened in 2013, leaving residents with an hour-long drive just to fill a prescription. A local pharmacist eventually reopened a small telepharmacy outpost in town, staffed largely by residents who trained on the job rather than in pharmacy school. It now serves thousands of patients who would otherwise have nowhere nearby to turn.

The story of Heber-Overgaard isn't unique. It's a small taste of what's been happening, in slow motion, across huge swaths of rural America, where the everyday infrastructure retirees depend on is quietly disappearing store by store and pharmacy by pharmacy.

Two trends are converging on the same map, and almost nobody depends on both more than retirees living on just Social Security in small towns.

Family Dollar is closing hundreds of stores as pharmacy deserts spread across rural America. Here's how retirees are affected, and what actually helps.

08/17/2026

Why prescription drug prices are plunging

by Courtenay Brown

America is experiencing its biggest prescription drug price deflation in generations.

Why it matters: By one important measure, there is a striking reversal underway for one of health care's most stubbornly expensive necessities amid a major Washington push to lower drug costs.

By the numbers: Prescription drug prices fell 0.8% in July and are down 3.1% from a year ago — the steepest annual decline in more than six decades, according to the recent Consumer Price Index.

Prices haven't risen in any month this year, an unusually persistent stretch of flat or falling drug prices.
The downward trend comes as costs for hospital and physician services continue to rise.

The decline comes amid a major Washington push to lower drug costs.

08/17/2026

'Profit growth over enrollment growth': Health insurers are dropping Medicare Advantage plans — many older Americans will be affected

by Vawn Himmelsbach

Thousands of seniors are receiving notification that their Medicare Advantage plan won’t be available next year, and there’s nothing they can do about it except find another option.

One in 10 Medicare Advantage policyholders face forced disenrollment this year, according to an analysis by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That’s as many as 2.9 million Americans.

One in 10 Medicare Advantage policyholders face disenrollment as insurers exit markets citing financial pressures.

08/10/2026

We are Hiring!

Company Description
Patton Insurance Benefits is located in West Des Moines, Iowa, and specializes in employee benefits, particularly healthcare coverages. The company offers healthcare coverages to associations, employee benefit programs to individual employers, and benefits for individuals under ACA below 65 and 65+.

Role Description
This is a full-time on-site role for an Administrative Support Specialist based in West Des Moines, IA. The specialist will be responsible for tasks such as phone etiquette, administrative assistance, communication, customer service, and basic accounting.

Qualifications
Phone Etiquette, Communication, and Customer Service skills
Administrative Assistance skills
Basic knowledge of accounting principles
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite
Experience in the insurance or benefits industry is a plus

07/31/2026

CMS to end Medicare Part D stabilization program

By: Jakob Emerson

CMS will discontinue the Part D premium stabilization program at the end of this year, returning the standalone prescription drug plan market to what the agency called “traditional market conditions.”

CMS said July 28 its analysis of 2027 bids indicated insurers had gained sufficient experience under the redesigned Part D benefit to support their assumptions in developing prescription drug plan bids.

The 2027 national average monthly bid amount, which is used to calculate government subsidies for plans, will be $296.05. The national base beneficiary premium will be $41.33. The 2027 de minimis amount is $2. Final average premiums for 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are expected to be released in September.

CMS end Medicare Part D — CMS will end the Medicare Part D stabilization program in 2027, returning the drug plan market to traditional conditions and…

07/08/2026

150+ rural hospitals have closed since 2010: What it takes to stay open

By: Andrew Cass

More than 150 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and hundreds more are operating on thin margins that leave them vulnerable to even modest revenue or cost structure disruptions, according to a June white paper from law firm Barnes & Thornburg, citing statistics from the he Chartis Center for Rural Health and Sheps Center for Health Services Research.

Six interrelated pressures — financial, workforce, regulatory, infrastructure,

access to care and governance — compound each other until a hospital can no longer sustain

its role as a community’s most essential, and often largest, employer. The report outlines strategies to break that cycle.

150 rural hospitals have closed since 2010; learn key strategies for financial stability, workforce, and infrastructure to keep them operational.

07/03/2026

🇺🇲🎆Waiting for the West Des Moines Independence Day Parade to start! 🎆🇺🇲