Dr. Jeremiah Eisenschenk said the findings match his experiences at Essentia Health Brainerd Medical Weight Management, where some patients have seen “profound” benefits from the medications.
“I can think of a few patients who have probably avoided hospitalizations and are off some other meds and are delaying knee replacements because of the weight they’ve lost,” he said, but he could recall an equal number of patients struggling with side effects or losing too much muscle mass along with fat.
“For others who cannot tolerate, afford, or safely acquire these agents, we are de-escalating doses and discontinuing them,” he said, adding that patients regardless of medications should be adhering to high-protein, low-sugar diets, and taking part in resistance training to maintain muscle mass.
Prime similarly is using the results to promote its KeepWell program, which can pair members’ medication usage with personalized lifestyle strategies to maximize the changes of weight loss and health benefits.
While insurance coverage wasn’t a barrier in the Prime study group, it has been for others as employers and health plans offset the high costs by limiting who qualifies for the medications. Even health care providers have been forced into cuts. Hennepin Healthcare eliminated coverage of GLP-1s for its workers seeking them for weight loss alone, while Mayo Clinic imposed a $20,000 lifetime cap on usage.
Out of pocket costs for GLP-1 medications have ranged around $900 to $1,400 per month for patients without insurance coverage, though some have been able to obtain discount cards and coupons from manufacturers.