Employers Cut Off Access to Weight-Loss Drugs for Workers

As costs mount for popular drugs such as Wegovy, a cousin of Ozempic, health plans are restricting coverage to save money

By Peter Loftus of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"So many people have turned to drugs used for weight loss that some employers are cutting off insurance coverage to head off climbing bills.

Spending on the popular drugs, which belong to the class including Ozempic and can cost as much as $1,350 a month for a patient, has quickly leapt into the tens of millions of dollars for insurance plans. The outlays are straining the finances of some plans, including those funded by employers.

After its costs for the drugs more than tripled over the past 18 months to about $5 million a month, the University of Texas System said it would end insurance coverage of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Saxenda for its employees and others covered by its health plans effective Sept. 1."

"Demand has risen so high so fast that Novo Nordisk, the maker of the drugs, hasn’t been able to manufacture enough,"

"The rising popularity of the drugs is confounding companies. They may want to help employees who are severely overweight and can have related medical conditions that add to health-insurance costs, but are worried about adding a costly new expense.

The University of Texas System health plan said it isn’t seeing any of the expected reduction in costs for other health conditions that weight loss could avert. “These savings are not being realized due to the excessive cost the drug manufacturer charges for the weight-loss medication,” the benefits newsletter said."

"The coverage cutbacks could stall or reverse progress that employees and doctors made in recent years gaining health-insurance reimbursement of prescriptions for weight loss. More health plans had been agreeing to pay for the drugs as research emerged indicating obesity was a disease, rather than a lifestyle choice."

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