Millions of Americans now take weight-loss drugs, some as a treatment for diabetes but, increasingly, simply to lose weight. A new study funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association suggests that these drugs might not be cost effective, reports Joshua Cohen for Forbes. Nearly six in ten people stop taking them before they lose significant weight.
People who take weight-loss drugs—GLP1s—can improve their health, particularly if they eat well and exercise. The drugs can help reduce the risk of heart attacks. They can also help people with chronic kidney disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Some believe GLP1s also can benefit people with sleep apnea and people with joint issues. As of now, Medicare only covers these drugs for people with diabetes and a small group of overweight people at risk for serious heart events.
To be effective, people must continue to take these drugs, if not for the rest of their lives, for a prolonged period. People who go off them before they have shown clinical benefit tend to regain the weight they lost.
People with diabetes are less likely to stop taking these medicines, Still, 58 percent of people who start taking them stop before they’ve experienced any real benefit. And three in ten people don’t renew their prescriptions after taking them for just one month.
Only 32 percent of people who start on a weight-loss drug appear to continue taking them after a year. About one in three working people do not have health insurance coverage for these drugs if they don’t have diabetes. These drugs cost so much that businesses who cover them will drive up insurance costs significantly.
So, insurers don’t cover these drugs because of their cost, which is insanely high. Moreover, most people don’t continue on them long enough to benefit their health. And, their benefits for those who stay on them appear to be marginal.
Even people who take weight-loss drugs on an ongoing basis appear to lower their risk of heart failure by just 1.5 percent, according to one recent study. Put differently, one in 67 people on these drugs avoid a serious heart event and virtually none avoid death any more so than people who don’t take these drugs.
Bottom line, it’s still too early to make a compelling case that insurers should cover weight-loss drugs for people who are not diabetics. At least for now, the data suggest that the costs might outweigh the benefits.
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