PwC in the US has cited ‘rapidly rising costs’ for its decision cut weight loss drugs from its employee benefits.
It has informed its staff that from July only staff with diabetes will be eligible for GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) medicines, such as Ozempic or Mounjaro.
Employees found out about the changes when they went to renew their annual benefits.
One employee told the Financial Times, which first reported the decision: “We work so hard and do such long hours sitting in front of a computer, it is not conducive to an active lifestyle. I don’t think the obesity diagnosis is being treated respectfully.”
In a statement, PwC US confirmed it would continue to cover the cost of its employees’ GLP-1 medication “when prescribed for conditions aligned with established standards of care, such as type 2 diabetes, but [they] will not be included under pharmacy coverage for weight management”.
The firm said the change reflected broader industry trends and “the need to manage rapidly rising costs, while maintaining access to clinically necessary treatments. We will continue to monitor the external landscape to make thoughtful benefits decisions that will support our people broadly and help keep coverage sustainable over time.”
A spokeswoman for PwC UK confirmed that employees did not typically have access to weight-loss drugs through its private medical insurance – a benefit not thought to be offered by any Big Four firms in the UK.
With drugs costing about £300 a month for the strongest injections and heaviest doses, other companies are also looking at dropping coverage of weight-loss jabs from their employee healthcare plans.
Research last year by Blue Cross Blue Shield, a US not-for-profit health insurer, showed that including GLP-1 medications in coverage increased employers’ insurance premiums by as much as 14%. Earlier this year, Blue Cross Blue Shield stopped including weight-loss drugs for its own employees unless they had diabetes, saying that spiralling costs had become an “unsustainable burden”.
Source – https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/pwc-drops-weight-loss-drugs/