Becker's Healthcare July 12, 2024
Citing high costs, payers are favoring bariatric surgeries over Wegovy and similar medications, according to an NYU Langone expert. It’s unclear if insurers’ policies can quell the booming popularity of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, though.
Weight loss surgeries have an upfront cost between $15,000 and $23,000, and GLP-1s can cost about $1,000 each month. There’s more data on how much weight is lost after bariatric procedures — it ranges between 20% and 30%, according to Anita Courcoulas, MD, chief of minimally invasive bariatric and general surgery at Pittsburgh-based UPMC — but patients are hungry for GLP-1s.
A four-year study by Novo Nordisk found sustained 10% weight loss among Wegovy users, but there’s no consensus. Some studies point toward...
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