New Drugs for Weight Loss: What Plan Sponsors Need to Know
The latest generation of prescription drugs originally developed to help people manage their type 2 diabetes have been causing quite a stir for patients, health professionals and benefit plans, now that they’ve been approved and are being promoted to treat weight loss. Health benefit plan sponsors who are presently excluding weight-loss drugs from coverage are revisiting coverage rules because of the effectiveness and demand for these newer weight-loss drugs.
Although this class of drugs, called glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1, have been around for more than 17 years, with the first one, Byetta®, approved in 2005, it is only recently that the class has made a big name for itself with the introduction of the popular once-weekly diabetic drug, Ozempic®, and the equally popular obesity drug, Wegovy® (the same drug as Ozempic but with a different dose). These are the newer GLP-1 therapies that have shown superior results to prior therapies in lowering A1C (blood sugar) levels of diabetics and helping those who are obese lose weight.
New Drugs for Weight Loss What Plan Sponsors Need to Know | Segal (segalco.com)
