Nearly 70% of Small Businesses Want Outside Help Running Benefits

Nearly 70% of small business owners say they need outside help to structure, operate and budget their employee benefits programs, according to a survey of 759 small businesses by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) and the HR tech company JustWorks. The finding lands in the middle of open enrollment season, when owners must pick plans, absorb premium increases and explain options to staff.

The numbers explain the strain. According to a report by the payroll platform Gusto, employee medical costs for entrepreneurs have surged 31% since 2022 and now stand at $8,743 per worker. Premium increases for all companies this year are slated to surpass 9%. The smallest employers absorb the worst of it. Firms with two to five employees have endured 35% premium hikes over the same period, and now pay about 6% more than businesses with 25 to 50 employees.

Who wants the help?

The demand for third-party assistance splits sharply by generation. Among Gen Z and millennial owners, 75% want expert support for structuring, operating and budgeting benefit programs. The figure falls to 64% among Gen Xers and 54% among boomers.

Health insurance is the clearest cost driver, but not the only one. Owners must also manage a wide array of plan options and find fresh budget room each year to fund rising prices. The difficulty of freeing up funds, and of making hard choices about where limited money goes, is one reason a majority now want outside management. A second motive: many owners want to use efficiencies gained from expert help to expand benefits further.

Joanne Sanders, a survey participant and president of Ewise Marketing and Communications in Georgia, told USCC pollsters: "I would love to offer programs that help with tuition/student loans, support with homebuying/child college savings, and offset childcare or elderly care costs."

Are owners cutting benefits? No — expanding them

Despite the cost pressure, the USCC survey shows coverage growing across every major category between Q2 2025 and Q3 of this year:

• Health insurance coverage rose from 41% of workers to 46%.
• Paid vacation days increased from 30% to 40%.
• Dental and vision plans expanded from 21% to 31% of staff.
• Retirement programs grew from 22% to 27% of participating employees.

The survey credits "crafty budgeting and financing decisions" for the expansion. Rather than pull back, owners found ways to push benefits to more staff members.

Why owners keep paying

The business case is measurable. According to data from Lincoln Financial, 74% of "employers who offer voluntary benefits cite positive effects on recruitment, retention, and performance." The figure climbs to 86% at companies that provide supplemental accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance — the options that often save employees from financial ruin after a health crisis.

The USCC respondents back that up from the employee side. Around 80% of small business owners reported their "employees are satisfied with the current offering," and 57% said staffers "rate their total compensation package as good."

What happens at renewal

The squeeze repeats itself every year. Stevie Straka, vice president of people at the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based cybersecurity company Blumira, said in the USCC report: "Health insurance premiums climb nearly every renewal cycle, often outpacing general inflation." Straka added that this "forces a tough annual trade-off between absorbing rising costs, shifting more of the burden to employees, or scaling back coverage."

Those trade-offs are why employees now going through open enrollment may find their bosses bringing in expert help to organize and manage workplace benefit programs — and keep them running as costs keep climbing.