Disney will drop medical insurance for some employees' spouses

Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Disney will cut medical coverage for US employees' spouses who can get insurance through their own jobs.

The move comes as US employers brace for another big increase in healthcare expenses next year.

Some big companies, including Deloitte, are planning to trim other employee benefits.

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.