Middle-aged adults on GLP-1s save $192,735 in lifetime medical bills

Taking GLP-1s for obesity lowers lifetime medical costs by an average of $192,735 for adults between the ages of 40 and 50, according to a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. Start earlier, at 25 to 30, and the estimate climbs to $270,800.

The number that surprised the authors was the one split by education. Adults in that same age band without college degrees saved $220,000, while college-educated adults saved $163,000, because a medicine that works on appetite and metabolism asks less of the gym hours and grocery budget a strict diet demands. More than 40 million Americans have reported using GLP-1s for weight loss, so the modelled population is not hypothetical.

Insurance coverage is what stands between that estimate and a household. About 75% of health plan providers do not cover GLP-1s for obesity-related weight loss, nearly half said they would not cover them at any price, and the model itself assumes uninterrupted lifetime access at roughly $350 to $450 a month.

Whether the savings ever land depends on who is holding the monthly bill. The lead author says the point is to anchor the argument about access, since the people his model shows gaining most are the ones least able to pay out of pocket for decades.

Read the full story at Fortune ↗

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