Surprise! GLP-1s Don’t Have to Blow the Bank for a Health Plan
A new analysis from Milliman has a revelation for health plan managers complaining loudly about the burdensome costs of GLP-1s blowing up their budgets. They’re doing it wrong.
Expenses for GLP-1s that can dramatically improve the health of persons with obesity simply do not have to break the bank for a health plan. In fact, when used intelligently, they can save money for a health plan. This is what Milliman found that FlyteHealth did for the state of Connecticut in its employee health plan by implementing a pilot of a comprehensive obesity care program.
FlyteHealth commissioned Milliman to independently analyze the results.
Outcomes, Adherence, and Cost Avoidance
The results Millman found were impressive, but frankly to us, they were not surprising. State employees enjoyed the benefits of a medication regimen that matched the medical complexity of each individual living with obesity. In this real-world setting they achieved an average of weight loss of 16% after a year. Furthermore, adherence was impressive, with 86% of patients staying with GLP-1 therapy in the first six months. This contrasts sharply with other reports of only 17 to 50% adherence.
But perhaps the most impressive finding was saving as much as $1.2 million through cost avoidance for the state of Connecticut. Milliman explains:
“Approximately $430,000 to $1.2 million (1% to 3% of the total State of Connecticut obesity medicine pharmacy spend in the study period) was avoided based on the rejected claims and by switching eligible program participants to lower net cost therapies appropriate for each member.”
The Value of Tailored, Comprehensive Care
Katherine Saunders, an obesity medicine physician who co-founded FlyteHealth, told us these results offer a compelling value story for smart obesity care:
“We achieve these results thanks to our expert clinicians, patent-pending algorithms, and comprehensive evaluations of each patient. Thus, personalized medical treatment plans align with patients’ medical complexity. Our JAMA-published behavioral program, tons of patient education and long-term support make these outcomes possible.”
These observations leave us with less patience for health plans that are eager to simply cut people off from obesity care and let them suffer the health consequences. Because no, GLP-1s don’t have to break the bank for health plans – if they are smart about it.
Click here for the Milliman report and here for the press release from FlyteHealth.
Bank Safe Door, photograph by Joaquim Alves Gaspar, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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May 29, 2025
