Vitality has become the first health insurer in the UK to offer customers discounted weight loss treatments for up to a year through its health cover.
The UK’s third-largest health insurer behind Bupa and Axa, with 1.9 million members, said it would offer discounts of up to 20% for medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – which are popular but pricey – to members, based on their body mass index (BMI) and weight-related health conditions.
Members can apply by completing their health profile through the Vitality app. If members have a BMI of 35 or over, they can apply for the new medication pathway, which includes coaching with a dietitian and discounted anti-obesity medications for up to 12 months based on their health risks.
The market is booming amid a new wave of anti-obesity drugs, called GLP-1s after the gut hormone that they mimic to suppress appetite. Injected by users once a week, they are effective in helping people lose weight and have also shown other health benefits in studies, such as reducing the risk of heart attacks and kidney disease.
However, they come with a high price tag. The price of Wegovy, made by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, starts at £139 for a month’s supply in the UK at online pharmacy prices, going up to £269 for higher doses. Wegovy, approved for use by the NHS in 2023, has been shown to achieve up to a 15% reduction in body weight after one year.
Last year, Mounjaro, made by the US drug firm Eli Lilly, became the second obesity treatment to be approved for use on the NHS in the UK. It costs from £139 a month at online pharmacies, and showed weight loss of about 20% in clinical trials. At a maximum dose, the annual cost is about £1,435.
The use of anti-obesity drugs aims to build on Vitality’s existing weight loss programme, which uses reward-based incentives to encourage customers to adopt a healthier lifestyle through better diet and more exercise, with nearly half (48%) of enrolled members reaching their targets of about 5% weight loss. This can lead to a lower insurance excess, as well as other rewards.
Obesity alone is estimated to cost the NHS about £6.5bn a year and can lead to multiple health problems such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
after newsletter promotion
In the US, fewer than a fifth of large companies include coverage for weight loss drugs in their health insurance plans, according to a survey published in Health Affairs in October.
Dr Katie Tryon, chief commercial director at Vitality, which is part of the South African insurance group Discovery Limited, said: “While some risk factors are reducing in the workplace, like smoking and alcohol … the ones that are coming out as ever increasing are the number of people living with obesity as well as mental health and MSK [musculoskeletal] issues.”
Article by:Source: Julia Kollewe
