Eli Lilly wants to incentivize more employers to cover GLP-1s

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly recently rolled out a new platform intended to boost employer coverage of GLP-1 medications for obesity.

Lilly will offer Zepbound, an injectable GLP-1 medication, at a price of $449 per month for all doses through the platform, called Lilly Connect. That’s the same price for higher doses of Zepbound available to patients without insurance coverage through the direct-to-consumer market, including on TrumpRx.

The model is one of several that allow employers to bypass pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), subsidizing GLP-1s offered at a direct list price, rather than through traditional health plans. Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Wegovy, announced a similar program in December.

Lilly partnered with more than 15 different program administrators that employers can work with in order to offer the drug to their workers. The cost to the business, and to workers, will depend on the arrangement they have with a pharmacy and program administrator, as well as what share of costs the employer decides to subsidize for its staff.

Building a bridge to access. Despite the rising popularity of GLP-1s for obesity, the medications aren’t widely covered by employers. Less than 20% of employers with 200 or more workers currently cover them, according to KFF’s 2025 employer benefits health survey. When companies do cover them, it’s typically through a medical benefit, with a rebate negotiated via their PBM, Peterson Health Technology Institute’s Caroline Pearson told HR Brew in December.

Drug pricing offered through PBMs can be opaque, presenting a challenge for benefits managers who are concerned about prescription drugs driving health costs higher.

Transparency was a key concern when Lilly was building Employer Connect, Kevin Hern, SVP of Lilly Employer, said. While employers may incur other costs for pharmacy dispensing fees or shipping, the net cost of $449 will remain the same, he noted. He expressed hope that this model might offer employers some clarity on pricing, allowing them to better budget for GLP-1s.

“They’re not paying the list price of the medicine, and then waiting six to nine months down the road for a rebate check to come back,” he said. “They’re just able to transact at that discounted net price, and we think that’ll be really attractive to employers.”

Varying levels of support. Program administrators partnering with Lilly on this model present a range of options for employers, from “bare bones [third-party administrator] services” to “wraparound obesity management, lifestyle programs, even telehealth services,” Hern said. The goal is to give employers the ability to choose what works for their workers and budgets, he added.

Andel, a medication startup, launched a new direct-to-employer platform selling Zepbound on Mar. 11 soon after Lilly rolled out Employer Connect. Founder and CEO Jay Bregman told HR Brew he believed employers would be attracted to a model offering GLP-1s at a cash price, with the option to choose how much they want to subsidize workers’ prescriptions.

Bregman said that benefits leaders can no longer ignore GLP-1s for obesity, despite the cost implications. He referenced a study recently published in Obesity Science & Practice that analyzed data from employees who were part of a healthcare system that discontinued GLP-1 coverage for obesity. A majority (81%) of workers had a worse perception of their employer after they lost coverage, while 18% said they considered finding a new job.

“This is what many employers knew or were afraid of,” Bregman said. “And now that they’re seeing the data on it, they’re thinking to themselves, ‘Wow, doing nothing is not a great option.’ You need to do something in between doing nothing and going bankrupt on these drugs.”

The bottom line. While Lilly’s direct-to-employer model could give HR teams more flexibility in designing GLP-1 benefits, it doesn’t offer a price point that’s “substantially lower than the price employers were already getting,” Shawn Gremminger, president and CEO of National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, told MedCity News.

And even employers that cover GLP-1s through traditional health plans are likely to see costs trend downward anyway due to increasing availability of lower-cost options, such as generics and oral medications, Alysha Fluno, national pharmacy practice leader with the consulting firm Mercer, told HR Brew in December.