Do Weight-Loss drugs save money? new study investigates

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

The study cohort is limited to employees and adult dependents aged 18-64 who receive their health insurance coverage from self-insured Indiana employers that agree to participate in the study. To be included in the study, the individuals must: 1. Be an Indiana resident; 2. Have health insurance benefits provided by participating employers (includes employees and dependents); 3. Be between the ages of 18 and 64; 4. Meet the eligibility criteria for an obesity medication prescription: 1. BMI of ≥ 30 (obesity) or 2. BMI of ≥ 25 (overweight) and at least one body weight-related comorbid condition (e.g., hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, or cardiovascular disease). If the prescribing eligibility criteria are updated in the future, we will update accordingly. 5. Individuals must have at least 6 months of enrollment prior to study inclusion (i.e., prior to the index date), though we may use additional pre-treatment data if available. An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in the cohort: 1. Has a condition associated with weight loss: a diagnosis of cancer (except for non-melanoma skin cancer), pancreatitis, eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder), HIV, unintentional weight loss, or cirrhosis at baseline; 2. Has a condition for which obesity medications are contraindicated (for example, medullary thyroid carcinoma, multiple endocrine neoplasia, etc.). 3. Receipt of diabetes-indicated incretin-based medications. If an individual has a claim for a related incretin-based therapy diabetes medication (e.g., Mounjaro, Ozempic, Rybelsus, Victoza) without an obesity-medication claim during the study period, the individual will be excluded from analysis. 4. Prior bariatric surgery. 5. Evidence of prior use of incretin-based obesity medications for weight loss.