The advent of GLP-1 weight-loss medications such as Wegovy and Zepbound has spurred debate as to whether the drugs’ cost should be covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.

Late last month, the Biden administration proposed that the drugs be covered by Medicare and Medicaid, a move that would have to be approved by the incoming Trump administration.

Now, data suggests that dramatic weight loss could save Americans big bucks in health care spending.

The study found that a 25% drop in weight among obese people could save an average of up to $5,442 per person annually.

That’s a level of weight loss often achieved by GLP-1 users, the study authors noted.

In trials, “more than one-third of participating adults with overweight or obesity who used the [GLP-1] product lost 20% or more of their body weight,” noted a team led by Kenneth Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University in Atlanta.

“Improving access to new weight-loss medications, along with existing evidence-based behavior change and weight-loss interventions, should help reduce health care spending associated with obesity in the United States,” they wrote.

The findings were published Dec. 5 in the journal JAMA Network Open.

As Thorpe’s team noted, by 2020 an estimated 42% of Americans were obese and another 31% were overweight — meaning that nearly three-quarters of all adults are not at a healthy body weight.

It’s also estimated that health care associated with obesity will cost Americans $385 billion in 2024.

How much could be saved if people lost weight?

To find out, the Emory team looked at average annual spending on health care for nearly 3,800 Medicare recipients, as well as more than 13,400 adults, averaging about 46 years of age, who were covered by employer-sponsored insurance.

The BMIs of everyone in the study were also recorded; all participants had a BMI of 25 or above (the threshold for obesity is a BMI of 30).

The researchers calculated that even a 5% reduction in body weight could save $670 per year in health care costs for folks covered by employer-sponsored plans. Annual savings rose to $2,849 if people lost 25% of their starting weight.

For folks enrolled in Medicare who had at least one chronic illness (for example, type 2 diabetes, heart disease or arthritis), the annual savings for 5% and 25% weight loss were $1,262 and $5,442, respectively.

“The projected annual savings from weight loss among U.S. adults with obesity were considerable for both Medicare and employer-based insurance,” Thorpe and colleagues concluded.

They add that their findings “may be of special interest to employers, health plans and Medicare.”

More information

Find out more about GLP-1 medications at the Mayo Clinic.

SOURCE: JAMA Network Open, Dec. 5, 2024

Source: HealthDay