Only 1 in 5 Large Companies' Health Plans Cover New Weight-Loss Meds for Employees

Wegovy and Zepbound, only a fifth of large U.S. companies cover the medications in their health insurance plans, a new survey shows.can fuel poor health and affects a significant chunk of the U.S. population, and these medications can help, the survey authors wrote. However, concerns linger about the“Employers are really trying to thread the needle right now,” study author Matthew Rae, associate director for the program on the health care marketplace at KFF, told.

Dr. Susan Spratt, an endocrinologist and senior medical director for the Population Health Management Office at Duke Health in North Carolina, told“People who are rich can afford to pay the $1,000 per month for this medication,” she said. “We are just widening health disparities by making it harder for patients to access life-changing medication.”

About 154 million people get health insurance through their jobs, according to KFF. The survey, taken from January through July, included responses from more than 2,100 employers that have at least 200 workers and offer health benefits. Half of the employers said they don't cover the drugs, while nearly a third said they don't know if they cover them; fewer than 1 in 5 said they provide such coverage.

America's largest firms -- 5,000 or more workers -- didn't do much better: Just over a quarter said they cover the drugs, while almost two-thirds say they don't.. While obesity rates have plateaued over the past decade, rates of severe obesity have increased, from 7.7% to 9.7%. who runs a weight-loss clinic in North Carolina, said there is a tendency to blame employers and insurance companies for the lack of coverage, but that blame is “misdirected.” .

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