The problem (not new with GLP-1s) is that people lose weight, get life insurance, and then regain.
The biggest part of that equation is regain part. Most people quit GLP-1s because of costs. Let's fix that.
arn3n · 23m ago
Obesity is highly correlated with other medical conditions, from cancer to diabetes to heart disease. I wonder if there is a point at which it is cheaper for health insurance companies to offer subsidized or even free GLP-1s to patients than pay out for other specialized medications. For example, my insurance covers flu shots in my community every year because it's presumably less expensive to pay for the shots compared to the increased rate of hospitalization that the flu causes.
dragonwriter · 18s ago
> For example, my insurance covers flu shots in my community every year because it's presumably less expensive to pay for the shots compared to the increased rate of hospitalization that the flu causes.
In the US, insurance companies are generally legally mandated to cover ACIP recommended vaccines at no cost to the insured, which includes flu vaccines for everyone six months or older without contraindications.
aqme28 · 12m ago
You’re thinking too highly about the incentives of the US healthcare system. Since insurance is tied to your employer (and therefore changing every few years), and most people die on Medicare, there’s not much incentive for insurance companies to pay for preventative care that won’t actually help you for several decades.
Minimal, but minimal progress in the US was/is still progress.
idontwantthis · 7m ago
You presume incorrectly. The flu vaccine has been covered for free because the federal government required it. RFK Jr. fired the entire CDC panel that created the requirement and replaced them with antivaxers. There’s a good chance it won’t be covered soon.
vslira · 19m ago
I've always felt that there's some trade to be done here, with life and health insurers basically giving glp-1 et all for free bc they lower the cost of everything else
edit: and then Big Annuity lobbying to oppose this
lesam · 7m ago
Aren’t “Big Life Insurance” and “Big Annuity” pretty much the same companies?
meltyness · 18m ago
Well I guess a GLP-1 pacemaker would address this. A lifetime of doses weighs at much as a nickel?
toomuchtodo · 27m ago
It sounds like aligning incentives here is requiring the weight stay off for the policy to remain in effect with an annual physical for monitoring, similar to what employers require for health insurance premium reductions. Point in time underwriting is suboptimal considering current state of the art of GLP-1s (unless newer protocols that can update metabolic profiles are delivered soon).
prasadjoglekar · 21m ago
Or life insurers paying for ongoing GLP-1s instead of potentially the health insurer.
But to your broader point, at least in the US, incentive mis-alignment on all healthcare and health insurance is possibly irredeemably broken.
paul7986 · 2m ago
I believe AI along with smart glasses that shows and calculates your daily caloric intake will be a substitute to the Ozempics.
With AI glasses doing this automatically for you upon seeing what your eating without u having to do anything some people may be shocked to learn how many calories they consume daily.
Currently, it's too time consuming now for the majority to do (i use GPT via texting it or talking to it to keep track as I eat out daily at healthy chains) but if it was done automagically I believe it definitely would be a substitute to Ozempic. I bet some or more would use that easily captured data that's shown to them (in the glasses or on their mobile device) to strive, make and possibly compete with their friends/family to eat less calories and carry less weight on them (be healthier). You can train your body to eat less to a lot less and for some that would definitely help them shed weight.
llm_nerd · 20m ago
This is a fun read, however-
"Life insurers can predict when you'll die with about 98% accuracy."
This conclusion isn't supported by the linked document. The document instead is talking about expected vs actual deaths among demographic groups as a whole, not individual people. And that expected vs actual is just history + trends. This doesn't mean that insurance can say that Joe Blow is going to die in June of 2027 with "98% accuracy", obviously.
PaulDavisThe1st · 11m ago
Put a little differently, they can predict that of your cohort (defined somehow), after June 2027, only X percent of you will still be alive.
Will you be one of them? Click here to find out!
artursapek · 7m ago
I still can’t believe millions of people are choosing to eat unhealthy food and medicate themselves out of obesity instead of just changing their diet.
the__alchemist · 50s ago
Primate brain want sugar!
bee_rider · 1m ago
We’re not evolved to turn down cheap, easy calories by default.
leptons · 3m ago
Have you ever met a human before?
artursapek · 2m ago
hahahaha
jgalt212 · 26m ago
I guess, but this is sort of the same as going on a statin to get your cholesterol down for a better insurance rate. Then going off because of reasons...
foota · 11m ago
I realize this is a fraught question, because not everyone is overweight by choice (whether due to a subsisting on whatever they can afford, time, genetics, injury, etc,.) but I believe that insurers are able to consider whether someone smokes cigarettes when setting premiums for ACA based healthcare. With the above caveats that would make this difficult, it would be nice if we could treat "voluntary" obesity similarly.
The biggest part of that equation is regain part. Most people quit GLP-1s because of costs. Let's fix that.
In the US, insurance companies are generally legally mandated to cover ACIP recommended vaccines at no cost to the insured, which includes flu vaccines for everyone six months or older without contraindications.
Minimal, but minimal progress in the US was/is still progress.
edit: and then Big Annuity lobbying to oppose this
But to your broader point, at least in the US, incentive mis-alignment on all healthcare and health insurance is possibly irredeemably broken.
With AI glasses doing this automatically for you upon seeing what your eating without u having to do anything some people may be shocked to learn how many calories they consume daily.
Currently, it's too time consuming now for the majority to do (i use GPT via texting it or talking to it to keep track as I eat out daily at healthy chains) but if it was done automagically I believe it definitely would be a substitute to Ozempic. I bet some or more would use that easily captured data that's shown to them (in the glasses or on their mobile device) to strive, make and possibly compete with their friends/family to eat less calories and carry less weight on them (be healthier). You can train your body to eat less to a lot less and for some that would definitely help them shed weight.
"Life insurers can predict when you'll die with about 98% accuracy."
This conclusion isn't supported by the linked document. The document instead is talking about expected vs actual deaths among demographic groups as a whole, not individual people. And that expected vs actual is just history + trends. This doesn't mean that insurance can say that Joe Blow is going to die in June of 2027 with "98% accuracy", obviously.
Will you be one of them? Click here to find out!