Employers are spending more on GLP-1 drugs, but the ROI is already here

GLP-1 weight loss treatment can be pricey. But employers who cover the treatments could end up saving on employee medical expenses overall. The finding is according to a new analysis of health insurance claims by global professional services firm, Aon, released Wednesday.

The report looked at data for more than 50 million commercially insured people in the U.S., including 139,000 taking GLP-1 drugs, from 2022 to 2024. It found that after an initial spike in costs related to weight loss treatment with drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy, costs fell — drastically. 

Cost growth for the group receiving GLP-1 treatment trended at half the rate of the control group in the second year of the analysis. The analysis also found a seven-percentage reduction in overall medical costs for the GLP-1 users when compared with workers with similar health conditions who weren’t taking the drugs. 

When it came to cardiovascular incidents, the report showed major gains for GLP-1 users, too. 44% experienced fewer hospitalizations caused by cardiac events, such as heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. They also logged fewer cases of pneumonia, alcohol and substance issues, and more.

“Obesity is an escalating global epidemic, impacting nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults, contributing to more than 60 chronic conditions and costing the U.S. economy up to $1.72 trillion annually,” said Greg Case, CEO of Aon, said in Aon’s report. “Addressing this issue is not only a public health opportunity but also a workforce and economic imperative.”

Case continued, “Our analysis shows that GLP-1 medications, when paired with a holistic adherence program, represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to prevent and manage chronic disease, improve quality of life and bend the healthcare cost curve.”

The new findings come as access to the drugs has recently been limited. When GLP-1 drugs rapidly gained popularity, tripling in use among adults that don’t have diabetes from 2018 to 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ran into supply issues. That allowed for compounding pharmacies to make cheaper versions of the drugs, which were sold on popular telehealth sites like Hims & Hers. However, when the FDA announced that the supply issues were rectified, it put a deadline on the making of the generic versions. And last week, a federal judge ruled against a compounding trade group’s request for a preliminary injunction that would’ve prevented the FDA from interfering with their continued manufacturing of the drugs.

However, we’re now seeing telehealth companies and GLP-1 makers begin to work together in order to keep the drugs accessible. This week, Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy, announced it would offer its weight loss drugs on Hims & Hers, Ro, and Life MD. “We felt it was really important to work hard to establish a collaboration with telehealth companies so that there could be access to Wegovy as the compounding is winding down,” Dave Moore, executive vice president of U.S. operations at Novo Nordisk said, per CNBC.

“We’re really pleased about the level of interest to access branded Wegovy and to start to sort of catch people as they come off of compounded medicine.”

View the full article