The data: Around 2 in 5 employers and health plans will never consider covering GLP-1 drugs for obesity, according to a June 2025 report from Pharmaceutical Strategies Group (PSG). 222 benefits leaders representing employers, health plans, and unions/Taft-Hartley plans were surveyed in March. About two-thirds of respondents are employers.

Digging into the findings: Employers and health plans overwhelmingly cover GLP-1s such as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes. But coverage of the GLP-1s for weight loss is much less common.

• Only 36% of employers and 22% of plans currently cover the drugs for obesity. About 7% of these companies are considering stopping coverage.
• About 1 in 5 who don’t cover the drugs for obesity are considering it.
• Larger employers with 5,000+ covered lives are much more likely than smaller employers (51% vs. 23%) to cover GLP-1s for obesity.
• 43% of plans and 34% of employers have never covered GLP-1s for obesity and will never consider doing so.

Top barriers to extended insurance coverage of GLP-1s are drug prices and the high number of obese patients in the US. For context, about 40% of US adults are considered obese by the CDC, and GLP-1 list prices are over $1,000 per month.

• About 90% of employers and insurers said they’re very concerned about GLP-1 affordability—from the plan’s perspective versus the member’s.
• The number of people who could be clinically eligible for GLP-1s is also weighing on companies: 42% of respondents who don’t cover the drugs for obesity said they wouldn’t do so for any price.

The big takeaway: Limited insurance coverage of GLP-1s for obesity isn’t stopping consumers from accessing the drugs. Many people are willing to pay out of pocket.

Consumer demand is driving pharma companies to improve access to their GLP-1 products through D2C channels.