Disney is joining other big-name companies in curbing employee benefits, a move that comes as healthcare costs rise
Starting next year, the entertainment giant will no longer offer medical insurance plans to US employees’ spouses if their spouses have jobs that provide such coverage, a Disney spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider. Employees’ other dependents won’t be impacted
“Like a growing number of large employers, we’re making measured adjustments to our employee benefits in response to rising healthcare costs nationwide,” the company said in a statement
The policy change at Disney, which doesn’t apply to dental or vision benefits for workers’ spouses, was first reported by the news outlet Puck
Joshua Lavine, CEO of Capitol Benefits, an insurance advisory firm, described Disney’s move as highly unusual. “We’ve seen employers reducing their contribution toward the spouse’s coverage, but not eliminating the coverage option for those people,” he said
Though Disney’s policy change doesn’t affect employees’ spouses who are unemployed or have jobs that don’t provide medical insurance, Lavine said it could create problems for those who are undergoing long-term health treatments
“There are so many options for employers right now to make coverage available to employees that this is really the extreme, nothing-else-can-work solution,” he said. “A better solution is to reduce, or if you have to, eliminate the employer contribution for spouses.”
Rising healthcare costs
Disney also plans to introduce an employee stock-purchase program later in 2027, pending approvals, Business Insider previously reported. The company had about 172,000 US employees as of September 2025
The Mouse House’s move to limit spousal medical coverage comes as US employers’ healthcare expenses are projected to rise 9.5% next year, marking the fourth consecutive near-double-digit annual increase, according to a report released Thursday by Aon. The increase extends one of the most sustained periods of healthcare inflation that employers have faced in decades, the insurance brokerage giant said
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Other big employers are also introducing cost-cutting measures. Starbucks recently said it would no longer cover GLP-1 medications prescribed for weight loss for benefits-eligible employees starting in October. The coffee chain offers health benefits to full- and part-time employees who work at least 20 hours a week
More businesses may follow their lead. In a survey conducted this spring, nearly half of US employers with 500 or more employees surveyed by Mercer said they plan to make changes to their medical plans next year, such as raising deductibles or copays. Those changes would result in higher out-of-pocket costs for workers, the benefits-consulting firm said
Some companies are making cuts to other types of employee benefits. Business Insider previously reported that Zoom reduced its paid parental leave this year, while Deloitte plans to do the same for some of its US employees, as well as cutting or paring back annual PTO, a pension plan, and IVF funding, starting in January
