10/09/2024
Your large Employers may start covering weight-loss drugs soon
This will typically be for your larger Employers on Self-Funded Plans..
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Hoping your company will begin paying for anti-obesity medications like Wegovy? You may be in luck.
A growing number of employers are considering covering the blockbuster weight-loss drugs, several surveys show. Workers will learn whether they’ll gain such coverage for the coming year during open enrollment, which launches this month at many companies.
GLP-1 drugs, which treat diabetes, obesity and certain other conditions, have become super popular since they came on the market a few years ago because they help patients shed pounds. While employers typically cover the medications for diabetes, fewer of them do so for weight loss, in part because of the drugs’ high prices — which have also limited Americans’ access to them.
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The list price for Wegovy, for instance, is about $1,350 for a four-week supply. Nearly 40 million people with employer coverage are estimated to be eligible for anti-obesity medications based on their body mass index, according to KFF, a health policy research organization.
More employers may start covering anti-obesity drugs, such as Wegovy. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
More employers may start covering anti-obesity drugs, such as Wegovy. REUTERS/Hollie Adams Hollie Adams/Reuters
“It could have a huge impact on premiums given the cost of the drugs,” said Matthew Rae, the associate director of KFF’s Program on the Health Care Marketplace.
Still, more than a quarter of employers are considering adding coverage for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss in 2025 or 2026, according to a national survey conducted this year by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm.
Roughly the same share say they are somewhat or very likely to begin covering these medications for weight loss within the next 12 months, according to KFF’s annual Employer Health Benefits Survey.
The chances of your employer covering an anti-obesity drug depends on its size — bigger organizations are much more likely to offer the benefit than smaller ones.
Workers are eligible for the GLP-1 medications for obesity treatment at 67% of the large companies in the Business Group on Health’s 2024 report, which surveyed mostly firms with more than 10,000 employees.
Mercer’s report, which looked at Employers with at least 500 workers, found that just over half are providing such coverage this year. But only 18% of firms in KFF’s survey, which includes those with 200 or more employees, cover GLP-1 drugs primarily for weight loss.
