Insured Benefits for Internationally Mobile Employees
Mercer Marsh Benefits 2026 survey report
Mercer Marsh Benefits’ new report on international medical benefits —based on a survey of 188 organisations— examines how employers are managing cross-border medical coverage in a fast-changing world. The findings show a strong commitment to quality coverage, notable gaps in benchmarking and mobile capabilities and digital adoption, and clear operational challenges for both employers and employees.
Top-line findings
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Benefits hold steady under pressure:96% of employers do not plan to reduce international medical benefits coverage in the next 12 months, despite rising cost pressures.
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Benchmarking gap:71% want to offer international benefits in line with market practice and 24% say they target above-market or leading benefits, yet 51% don’t know how their plans compare to peers.
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Broader coverage:40% extend international medical benefits to local nationals, widening the use of these arrangements beyond traditional expatriate populations.
Mobility is evolving, and so are plan priorities
Global assignments continue to increase, with 47% of respondents looking to increase assignee numbers in the next 12 months.
Assignments and remote work patterns are changing programme scale and scope, and influencing how employers think about access, quality and continuity of healthcare for assignees.
Maintaining international healthcare coverage is seen as essential to duty of care, talent retention, and business continuity. Keeping benefits global is a deliberate choice, not a default.
Making prevention and integrated care central to plan design as mobility grows and populations diversify — many organisations are already moving in this direction.
Employers are looking to align prevention and plan management to support the health needs of a diverse mobile population and drive better health outcomes.
Coverage is also expanding beyond expatriates. International private medical insurance (IPMI) and similar solutions are being used to simplify compliance and close coverage gaps in local market provisions.
IPMI is being increasingly used as a solution to cover low-headcount local nationals where domestic markets cannot meet requirements and IPMI can fulfil local regulatory requirements.
Operational reality and a digital gap
Many programmes are managed centrally to ensure consistency and meet regulatory obligations, while still needing local flexibility for market-specific clinical and compliance issues.
Employers actively work towards optimising cost management, clear communications, and finding the right providers and plan designs. Employees most often complain about claims processes, navigating local healthcare systems, and understanding their benefits. These everyday frictions reduce perceived value and increase administrative burden.
A surprising number of organisations still rely on manual or fragmented systems. Better use of administration platforms and digital claims tools could simplify enrolment, speed claims, and improve member experience.
Is yet to be seen with most employers remaining on the fence or questioning AI readiness when considering its importance in their decision making process.
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