Announcements from Cedar, Charlie Health, Hawthorne Effect, Story Health

The economic cost of excess weight, including things like absenteeism from work, is an estimated $1.7 trillion. And medical costs for adults with obesity are over $1,800 higher than those at a medically defined “healthy weight.” So if there was some magic drug to remove this excess costs and help employees get healthier, employers would be all in, right? Enter GLP-1’s, a breakthrough treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes with astounding results. But like all things that seem too good to be true, there is a downside. At a whopping $900 per month per employee and estimates that employer drug spending would increase by over 50% if even half of eligible employees took the drug, some employers are blocking coverage. The arguments on both sides run deep with valid points leaving us at a stalemate when determining the future of coverage for these medicines.