US study reveals employer willingness to cover anti-obesity meds despite cost concerns

A new study aimed at understanding perceptions of obesity management and the use of anti-obesity medicine by employers and employees in the US has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Population Health Management.

Jamy Ard, from Wake Forest School of Medicine, and coauthors reported that both employed people with obesity (EwO) and employer representatives (ER) acknowledged the impact of obesity on future health problems and perceived obesity as a disease. Both groups perceived health care provider-guided lifestyle change alongside anti-obesity medications as the most effective approach for maintaining weight-loss reduction.

"More than two-thirds (68.6%) of ER expressed willingness to revisit their anti-obesity medicine coverage decisions, though cost of medication coverage (72.5%) and affordability of medications for employees (68.7%) were identified as barriers," stated the investigators.

"Evidence demonstrates the benefits of evidence-based obesity care, direct/indirect cost reductions, and the impact of obesity may address barriers to anti-obesity medicine coverage and improve obesity care and outcomes of their workforces," concluded the investigators.

"Dr. Jamy Ard and colleagues from academia, the public sector, and the private sector have provided us with cutting-edge data about the burden of obesity in our country. This research represents our best thinking as to how to tackle the burden with solid science," says David Nash, MD, MBA, Editor-in-Chief of Population Health Management, and Founding Dean Emeritus and Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor, Jefferson College of Population Health, Philadelphia, PA.