KFF survey suggests reluctance to take an injectable drug for obesity

August 15, 2023

Source: Montero, et al KFF August 4, 2023 LINK

KFF surveyed over 1300 Americans last month to assess attitudes toward anti-obesity drugs.  They found that 61% of respondents were trying to lose weight, although only 4% were taking prescriptions for this.  Eighty seven percent said they had never taken a medicine to lose weight.

As you can see, almost half (45%) of all respondents were interested in weight loss drugs, although this interest dropped off for medications which require injections (as is the case with all GLP1s currently in use) and if the drug is not covered by insurance. Respondents were also cleary less enthusiastic about a drug that requires continued use.

Implications for employers:

-        This might suggest that the market for these drugs will be smaller than many expect. However, I believe that when more people have close friends or family members taking these drugs resistance to injections will fade.

-        There is already an oral-version GLP-1 drug for diabetics and it’s likely that an oral version for weight-loss will be available in the coming months.  This study suggests that an oral anti-obesity medication could gain even higher uptake. 

-        Actuaries might consider these survey results when they project costs of GLP-1 drugs going forward, although I suspect uptake might be higher than these results would suggest.

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