Nearly Half of Workers Are Skipping Doctor Visits. Employers Are Betting Benefits Can Fix That.

Alight adds Marquee Health to its partner network, folding screenings and health coaching into employer benefits as 64% of employers plan higher 2027 budgets.

Alight is widening its benefits toolbox. The U.S. technology company, which says it serves more than 30 million people and employs roughly 9,500 staff, has added Marquee Health (CuraLinc) to its Alight Partner Network, according to industry reports from mid-September 2026. The tie-up folds biometric screenings, personalized health coaching and a range of wellbeing resources directly into the benefits packages employers offer their workers.

The move lands against a stubborn problem in workplace health care. Alight's own Employee Mindset Study 2026 found that 43% of surveyed employees said they had put off medical care they needed. For the German market, the picture looks much the same: the Great Employee Benefits Studie 2026 (GEBS 2026), produced by Epassi with Aalto University and Pole Star Advisory, backs up that finding.

Budgets Are Rising, but the Fit Is Off

Money is not the main obstacle. Among employers surveyed, 64% plan to raise their supplemental benefits budgets in 2027. Even so, GEBS 2026 exposes a clear gap between what is offered and what workers actually want. More than a third of employees did not use all the benefits available to them in 2025, and 54% of those respondents blamed a poor match with their personal interests.

Physical prevention shows the mismatch most sharply. While 43% of employees would like offerings focused on physical wellness, only 16% currently receive them. The data also points to what happens when the fit is right: among users of fitness benefits, 87% reported being more active, and 63% said they had fewer sick days.

A Sector Consolidating Around Digital Care

Alight's network expansion is unfolding alongside broader consolidation in the health platform market. Included Health has agreed to acquire Firefly Health, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.

Firefly Health cut total care costs in its Administrative Services Only (ASO) business by 15% in fiscal year 2025. The company works with a network of more than 2,300 providers and reports member satisfaction above 90%.

Data from Included Health further suggests that clinical use of digital health platforms delivers measurable gains for members. According to the company, members who take up those offerings gain an average of two additional "healthy days" per month.

What Two Decades On-Site Can Deliver

Long-term proof that pairing health checks with direct care pays off comes from Atlantic Packaging. The company, which has about 1,260 employees in the United States, launched a comprehensive wellness program back in 2012 that includes on-site biometrics and a dedicated health center at its Tabor City location.

Take-up remains high: 84% of the local workforce uses the facility. Progress has been especially pronounced for chronic conditions.

Among participating patients with type 2 diabetes, 75% improved their clinical markers (A1C), and the group's average value fell by 1.2 points overall. A mental health program launched in May 2025 has drawn 12.5% of the workforce since it began.

Alight's latest partner expansion follows the same logic now spreading across the sector: weave medical prevention and one-to-one guidance more tightly into the working day, so that more employees take part — and long-term health costs come down.