PwC insight into health policy and 2026 cost projections

18 July 2025

PwC has released its Medical Cost Trend: Behind the Numbers 2026 report, outlining the primary inflators and deflators of healthcare costs across the industry. It finds that AI investments, new drugs like GLP-1s, and behavioral health treatments are keeping costs elevated - a steady but high 8.5%.

Medical cost trend is once again hovering at rates reminiscent of 15 years ago. The US healthcare system is heading into another year of powerful inflationary forces exerting pressure with few deflationary forces in sight.

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