UK employers are being compelled to reassess their healthcare and advantages methods as demand for weight-management medication surges amongst staff, in response to new analysis.
Greater than 1 / 4 of UK employees have already used a weight-management drug similar to Ozempic, whereas two in 5 imagine their employer ought to fund entry to those therapies by way of office healthcare plans. In consequence, 44 per cent of employers say they’re now reviewing, or basically redesigning, their healthcare provision.
The findings come from the Altering Face of Worker Well being report by Howden Worker Advantages, which means that blockbuster GLP-1 medication have gotten a defining challenge in the way forward for office well being.
Regardless of the rising strain from employees, employers are caught in a monetary bind. Virtually 9 in ten companies say they’re at present happy with the return on funding from their healthcare plans, but half of these already overlaying weight-management medication now see them as a rising value concern. Practically half anticipate these prices to rise additional, with one in 5 companies citing obesity-related circumstances as the one greatest driver of accelerating healthcare spend.
Whereas solely 5 per cent of employers anticipate these prices to ease subsequent yr, many acknowledge the long-term trade-off. Weight-related diseases similar to diabetes contribute considerably to illness absence and misplaced productiveness. Round 72 per cent of UK employers are already investing in preventative well being measures, and a few see managed entry to weight-management medication as a option to cut back longer-term well being dangers and related enterprise prices.
Nonetheless, the report warns that failing to adapt healthcare plans may create wider issues. With medical inflation forecast at 7 per cent in 2026, and mixed value will increase of greater than 10 per cent as soon as common inflation is included, employers face troublesome choices about which therapies to cowl and the place to attract the road.
Cheryl Brennan, managing director of Howden Worker Advantages, mentioned the difficulty is now not hypothetical. “The demand for these medication is apparent, and employers merely can’t afford to disregard it. However the monetary impression can’t be missed – that is already forcing enterprise leaders to rethink plan design and funds allocations.”
She added that whereas the medication supply important well being advantages, they shouldn’t be handled as a cure-all. “Weight-management medication will not be a silver bullet. They should sit inside a broader, extra personalised well being technique with clear eligibility guardrails. Employers can even should justify why they cowl these therapies forward of others that stay excluded.”
As worker expectations evolve, the report suggests office healthcare is getting into a brand new section, one the place prevention, personalisation and hard monetary trade-offs will outline how advantages are structured over the approaching years.
