Questions about insurance coverage for weight-loss drugs are getting more intense as cheaper alternatives go off the market
By Callum Borchers of The WSJ Journal. Excerpts:
"Some companies have curbed or ended coverage for blockbuster weight-loss treatments known as GLP-1s."
"Some employers say the upfront cost of covering weight-loss drugs only pays off if slimmed-down workers stick around long enough for their other healthcare expenses—on obesity-related conditions like heart disease and joint replacements—to go down."
"“Does a GLP-1 pay for itself? The answer is, no,” says Robert Andrews, chief executive of the Health Transformation Alliance"
"people with Type 2 diabetes who were on weight-loss drugs for at least nine months had fewer heart attacks, strokes and emergency-room visits than diabetics who didn’t take the same medications."
"But GLP-1 users were still more expensive to their employers. The reduction in adverse health events wasn’t enough to offset spending on the drugs. He says these cost member companies about $650 a head each month after rebates."
"sustaining the fat-burning effects often proves challenging, and companies don’t want to pay for temporary results."
Related posts:
Employers Cut Off Access to Weight-Loss Drugs for Workers (2023)
Pharmacy-benefit managers and drug prices (2023)
Patients Lose Access to Free Medicines Amid Spat Between Drugmakers, Health Plans (2023)
Obscure Model Puts a Price on Good Health—and Drives Down Drug Costs (2020)
Companies and governments are paying people to get healthy, and it works (2019)
Should your company or insurer reward you for meeting exercise goals? (2016)
Will A Tax On Junk Food Help Mexico Fight Obesity? (2013)
Smokers and the obese cheaper to care for, study shows (2011)
Should We Pay People To Adopt A Healthy Lifestyle? (2010)
No comments:
Post a Comment