Wegovy, Ozempic, and other new GLP-1 agonist drugs can control diabetes, melt pounds away, and possibly perform other medical miracles, but they're not good for employers' financial wellness. Employers recently told the Business Group on Health that they believe the popularity of high-cost GLP-1 agonists is one of the main reasons healthcare cost increases are picking up.
The 125 employers that participated in the group's latest annual healthcare strategy survey predicted that their healthcare costs will increase about 7.8 percent in 2025, before plan design changes, up from an increase of 7.2 percent this year and 6.6 percent in 2023. They are hoping plan design changes will hold their actual healthcare cost increase to 6.6 percent.
About 57 percent of the 118 employer benefits decision-makers who answered a question about cost drivers classified GLP-1 agonist spending as "driving healthcare costs to a great or very great extent," and GLP-1 agonists topped the list of 2024 cost drivers. Other high-cost therapies ranked second, with 46 percent of participants classifying them as major cost drivers.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
