{"id":8145,"date":"2023-05-25T11:59:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T16:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/insight\/new-weight-loss-drugs\/"},"modified":"2023-05-25T11:59:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T16:59:26","slug":"new-weight-loss-drugs","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/ca\/insight\/new-weight-loss-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"What Employers Need to Know About the New Weight Loss Drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_style=”page-hero” full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column]\n\t

\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
\n

Employee Benefits<\/p>\n

\n What Employers Need to Know About the New Weight Loss Drugs\n <\/h1>\n\t\n <\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″]\n
\n \n

\n What Employers Need to Know About the New Weight Loss Drugs\n <\/h1>\n\t\n <\/div>[vc_column_text]More than 4-in-10 Americans have obesity. The CDC estimates that the extra medical expenses associated with obesity exceed $173 Billion. Moreover, obesity is associated with costly conditions, including diabetes and heart conditions.<\/p>\n

A new class of drugs \u2014 known as glucagon-like peptide agonists, or GLP-1s \u2014 have been found to help people lose excess weight. While these medications were initially approved only for treating Type 2 Diabetes, researchers noticed GLP-1 patients were losing weight. This prompted the manufacturers to file the drugs with the FDA for a new weight loss indication. As part of the approval process, manufacturers re-branded the drugs; Ozempic\u00ae was renamed Wegovy\u00ae for its weight loss indication. Similarly, Victoza\u00ae was renamed Saxenda\u00ae for its weight loss indication.<\/p>\n

While these drugs offer hope to people suffering from chronic obesity and its related conditions, they are expensive. Wegovy retails for ~$1,350 per month. The number of people using these drugs has increased because people have been seeing results. However, this has led to the GLP-1s drug class becoming among the costliest medications for employers over the past two years.<\/p>\n

While there have been stories of short-term weight loss due to the GLP-1s, to date, there are no outcome studies demonstrating long-term weight loss success and a corresponding reduction in the prevalence of associated conditions.<\/p>\n

What Can Employers Do?<\/h3>\n