Analysts studying the issue say obesity is a significant factor in rising health insurance claims. A new report from Morningstar DBRS, New Weight Loss Drugs Expensive For Insurers to Cover, But May Help Address Costs of Obesity, notes that insurers are tasked with the job of managing high costs and fast adoption of popular new weight-loss drugs in the short term.
“It remains to be seen if these new drugs will have positive long-term health effects at the population level, but, as their usage becomes better understood, insurers are likely to benefit from the addition of GLP-1 drugs to their healthcare benefit offerings,” the report states.
Ultimately could be beneficial for insurers
“GLP-1 drug therapies could ultimately be beneficial for insurers if they help treat obesity more effectively and more cost effectively than alternatives. In addition, the high demand for the drugs will make benefit plans and insurance coverage more attractive to the public,” they add. “Long-term mortality and morbidity impacts remain difficult to forecast.”
The drugs are typically priced around $1,000 per patient, each month.
They conclude saying that should the drugs deliver on their promise to help with the maintenance of healthy weight, the consequences could be profound, “helping to reverse some of the negative health trends observed in recent years,” they write. “There are still significant risks that long-term usage of these drugs could result in adverse health effects, especially when misuse is factored in, as there is already a strong demand for using GLP-1 drugs outside of their medically recognized usage.
Insurers will need to monitor these developments to consider their impacts on long-term life and health insurance claims,” they state. “Insurers and sponsors of employee benefit plans face the challenge to either fund the cost of these new, vastly popular drugs, or limit their usage.”
