GLP-1 Therapies: Evaluating the Balance Between Pharmacy Costs and Long-Term Value<\/a>,\u201d states that GLP-1 therapies have become one of the most significant drivers of pharmacy spending across the healthcare industry.<\/p>\nGrowing evidence, Best says, supports improved morbidity outcomes and more-effective chronic disease management, which may reduce future medical costs.<\/p>\n
However, affordability pressures continue to shape health insurance coverage decisions, as GLP-1s remain a significant driver of pharmacy spending and long-term cost offsets remain uncertain.<\/p>\n
AM Best director Joseph Zazzera noted: \u201cThe conversation now centres on whether the long-term health benefits justify the significant near-term pharmacy costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause GLP-1 therapies may require long-term treatment, they could continue to place upward pressure on pharmacy expenditures.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report says the most immediate impact of GLP-1 therapies from a population health perspective is likely to be on morbidity rather than mortality.<\/p>\n
Morbidity typically refers to having a specific illness or health condition, while mortality refers to the number of deaths that a specific illness or health condition causes.<\/p>\n
Obesity is one of the leading drivers of global chronic morbidity, serving as a primary risk factor for dozens of other debilitating medical conditions.<\/p>\n
When an individual has obesity, it drastically increases their likelihood of developing co-morbidities \u2014 multiple overlapping chronic illnesses that diminish quality of life and place a heavy burden on healthcare systems.<\/p>\n
The Best report notes: \u201cIf positive outcomes seen from GLP-1 therapies can be sustained, the potential to reduce healthcare utilisation, improve quality of life and lessen the long-term burden of chronic disease increases, which may reduce future medical costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether improvements in morbidity ultimately translate into measurable reductions in mortality remains an important question.<\/p>\n
The commentary also notes that most employer-sponsored health insurance does not cover GLP-1s for weight loss, so it is likely that many individuals are self-paying.<\/p>\n
Even with lower prices for some of the GLP-1 therapies, the magnitude of individuals who could be eligible for weight loss drugs has insurers and employers continuing to grapple with the affordability implications.<\/p>\n
In addition, because members frequently change employers and health plans, the payer funding today\u2019s treatment may not be the organisation that ultimately realises tomorrow\u2019s medical savings benefit.<\/p>\n
Mr Zazzera added: \u201cPharmacy costs are immediate and measurable, while many of the anticipated benefits \u2014 including fewer diabetes complications, reduced hospital admission and improved management of obesity-related chronic diseases \u2014 may not be realised for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cGLP-1 therapies are likely to remain one of the industry\u2019s most closely watched developments, influencing pharmacy trends, employer and health plan benefit designs and long-term healthcare economics.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Created: Sep 23, 2026 06:59 AM (Updated: Sep 23, 2026 07:02 AM) Employer-sponsored health insurance does not always…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[470809,64,63,137,23191,490,4390,13093],"class_list":["post-902657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-am-best","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-health-insurance","tag-medication","tag-obesity","tag-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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