GLP-1s can assist employers lower medical costs in 2 years: study

The growing demand for diabetes and weight reduction drugs like Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy has helped fuel higher health costs for giant employers. For a lot of, the massive query is whether or not the pricey medications referred to as GLP-1s pays off by improving employee health and lowering overall health costs over time. Analysts at Aon say it’s already happening.  

“We have never seen anything like this, really,” said Greg Case, CEO of Aon, an employer advantages services firm. “There was a 44% reduction in major cardiovascular issues. There was substantial reduction in osteoporosis. There was substantial reduction in pneumonia of multiple types.”

Aon researchers found that inside two years, patients taking GLP-1 drugs saw improved health outcomes, which significantly slowed the expansion rate of their medical costs. The speed of growth, referred to as the medical cost trend – was cut roughly in half, the researchers said.    

GLP-1s come at an inventory price of greater than $1,000 per dose. As broader approval for the drugs spurs higher demand, it is also causing employer drug spending to spike. Since 2023, GLP-1s have pushed costs up at a faster pace than high-priced specialty medications, which include costly cancer and autoimmune treatments, in response to an evaluation by Evernorth, a division of Cigna.

Aon analysts checked out medical claims data for 139,000 U.S.-based employees with employer health coverage who took GLP-1 medications between 2022 and 2024. Beyond the drug costs, the study found GLP-1 patients are inclined to incur higher medical costs of their first 12 months on the drugs, with more doctor visits to watch their treatment on the drug and to hunt help for other issues resembling sleep apnea and esophageal conditions like acid reflux disorder.

“The rise comes about in the primary 12 to fifteen months,” Case said. “They’re getting remedies on things that truly are underlying conditions [of obesity].”

But by the top of the second 12 months of treatment with the GLP-1 drugs, the medical cost trend for patients taking them slowed by 7% on average, in comparison with employees with similar chronic conditions and obesity characteristics who weren’t taking the drugs, Aon found. For those not taking the drug, the medical cost trend was 14%.

The largest driver of those savings was the reduction by greater than 40% of major opposed cardiac events resembling heart attacks and strokes, compared with patients who weren’t taking the drugs, in addition to a discount within the onset of diabetes. 

Case said with this data, Aon has been capable of help clients understand the timeline for seeing a return on providing insurance coverage for GLP-1s for weight reduction, along with Type 2 diabetes.

“We saw each place where the price went down — and it’s stunning,” said Case. “You’ll be able to do that in a way that has an ROI, that can literally be an economic return.”

Following its research, Aon has launched a subsidized GLP-1 weight management program for its own U.S. workforce, which incorporates weekly virtual wellness visits and residential blood tests to assist employees adhere to the drug regimen.

The corporate will present the total results of its study on the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct that Aon researchers found GLP-1 use reduces the expansion rate of medical costs for employers by 7%. An earlier version misstated the findings.