Employers rethink GLP-1 benefits with Calibrate's Defined Contribution model

Investing in employee health is both a healthcare and business decision. Thoughtfully designed benefits can improve outcomes while supporting well-being, productivity, and long-term success. The future of obesity care lies in balancing clinical excellence with innovative, sustainable benefit strategies that create value for both employees and employers.

Another study. Another reminder that the impact of GLP-1 access and obesity treatment extends far beyond the number on a scale. A new economic study found that people using GLP-1 medications experienced a 17% reduction in long-term sick leave, highlighting another way effective obesity care may benefit both employees and employers. Read more 👀 https://lnkd.in/g3tqabeu But the real takeaway isn't simply medication access. Healthier employees are more likely to be present, productive, and engaged. Fewer extended absences, reduced presenteeism, and better cardiometabolic health can all contribute to a stronger workforce and healthier organizations. That's why at #Onsera, we focus on outcomes: not just prescriptions. Our physician-led model combines personalized GLP-1 management, registered dietitians, health coaching, continuous clinical oversight, and AI-powered engagement and insights to help participants build sustainable health improvements that can translate into meaningful results for your organization. Because when employees feel better, they don't just miss fewer days: they have the opportunity to perform at their best. #EmployeeBenefits #GLP1 #ObesityCare #WeightManagement #MetabolicHealth #CardiometabolicHealth #PopulationHealth Jeff Bernhard Lisa M. Schaffner, Ph.D. Samira Kaderali Lowman Kristin Baier MD

We’ve made a mistake as an industry. GLP-1 programs are treated as weight loss programs. They aren’t. And employers are paying for that mistake right now. Business Group on Health’s 2026 survey found nearly 8 in 10 employers say GLP-1s are driving up their health care costs. More than half expected significant clinical benefits. Few have seen any evidence in their claims. And PBM persistence data shows only 1 in 12 members are still on therapy at three years. So employers are cutting coverage. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the drug was never the problem. Coverage without clinical management was. Weight loss is the catalyst, not the objective. The real objective is improving metabolic health and reducing long-term cardiometabolic risk. When employers evaluate metabolic health solutions, the outcomes that matter include: • Improved HbA1c and glycemic control • Reduced inflammation and cardiovascular risk factors • Healthier lipid profiles and blood pressure • Reduced progression to type 2 diabetes • Appropriate medication optimization and stewardship • Sustained member engagement and behavior change • Lower downstream medical costs and predictable employer ROI After six years and over 100,000 members, we’ve learned that sustainable metabolic health requires far more than access to medication. It requires physician-led care, behavior change, longitudinal coaching, and continuous clinical optimization informed by real-world outcomes, not just clinical trials. Our members sustain an average of 19% weight loss at 36 months, and they increase relative lean body mass while doing it. Fat loss, not muscle loss. That’s the difference between weight loss and metabolic health, and it’s 2-3x better outcomes than GLP-1 access alone Before you cut coverage, ask a different question: what would it look like if the program were actually managed? If you’re evaluating metabolic health solutions for an employer population, I’m happy to share an anonymized three-year employer case study demonstrating a sustained 6:1 annual ROI through a clinically managed, financially predictable approach to GLP-1 implementation. #MetabolicHealth #CardiometabolicHealth #ObesityCare #GLP1 #EmployerHealth #PopulationHealth #BenefitsConsulting #ValueBasedCare

Collaboration Improves Outcomes Managing lipedema often requires a multidisciplinary approach. Physicians, therapists, mental health professionals, nutrition specialists, and compression experts each play an important role in supporting patient outcomes. When healthcare professionals collaborate, patients benefit.

Point solutions solved part of the puzzle, but employers are tired of stitching together GLP-1 access, coaching, and navigation from five different vendors, with no one accountable for the outcome. The market is consolidating around integrated care for the same reason it always does: fragmentation is a tax someone eventually stops paying. Worth watching how fast 'one accountable partner' becomes table stakes in RFPs.

Obesity care is moving from point solutions to operating systems. Minerra is designed to be that operating system. The future is not one more GLP-1 vendor, coaching app, or navigation tool. It is an accountable operating layer that coordinates the full metabolic continuum — lifestyle, medication, and surgery — around the patient, provider, and purchaser.

The first wave of obesity care solved individual problems. The next wave is solving the entire care journey. The obesity care market is maturing, and so are employer expectations. The first generation of vendors focused on solving one challenge at a time. GLP-1 access, coaching, navigation, screening, and engagement each addressed an important piece of the patient journey. Today, employers are asking a different question: Who owns the outcome? Instead of managing multiple vendor relationships, organizations are looking for one accountable partner that can coordinate care across lifestyle, medication, behavioral support, and surgical pathways. The shift isn't toward more services. It's toward one connected care model designed to improve long-term outcomes. That's the future Minerra was built for. Are you seeing employers move away from point solutions toward integrated care programs?

Change in healthcare doesn't happen by chance—it happens when clinicians have a seat at the table. In just two years, ACLM has gone from a newly inducted member of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates to an increasingly active voice in conversations shaping the future of medicine. From medical education and food and nutrition policy to obesity care, sleep health, and rural health transformation, lifestyle medicine is helping inform discussions that influence how care is delivered, how physicians are trained, and how health is defined. This progress reflects the dedication of ACLM delegates, members, and partners who continue to elevate the role of prevention, behavior change, and whole-person care within organized medicine. Because advancing lifestyle medicine isn't just about changing individual patient outcomes—it's about helping shape the systems that influence health at scale. 👉 Read more about ACLM's growing impact within the AMA: https://lnkd.in/eEk4tqTn #LifestyleMedicine #HealthcarePolicy #MedicalEducation #HealthcareLeadership #WholePersonHealth

#Healthcare doesn’t change because we discover something new. It changes when we build systems that allow knowledge to become routine practice. We’ve known for years that #medication adherence matters. People living with #chronic conditions who take their medication as prescribed experience better outcomes and have a lower risk of serious complications and mortality. The evidence is compelling, and my research adds to that body of knowledge: https://lnkd.in/d9Kdf_iy The question that increasingly interests me, however, is a different one. If we know medication #adherence is so important, why don’t we treat it like the clinical indicator it is? We routinely measure blood pressure, HbA1c and cholesterol because we’ve built #systems around the things we believe are important. Those measures are monitored, discussed and acted upon. Medication adherence, despite its profound influence on health outcomes, is rarely embedded into care with the same consistency. It is often measured inconsistently, addressed reactively and largely absent from routine performance monitoring and health #policy. That creates an implementation gap. We understand the importance of adherence at an individual level, yet struggle to improve it systematically across populations. My research explores how routinely collected pharmacy data could provide a more standardised and scalable way of measuring medication adherence. Not because another metric is the answer, but because meaningful improvement begins with meaningful measurement. To me, that’s the broader lesson. Healthcare rarely changes because we know more. It changes when we build systems that make applying what we know the default. https://lnkd.in/dSsCPSpq https://lnkd.in/dma_mWxD

We're proud to be one of nine regulated digital healthcare providers behind the first findings from the DiCE REALM study – the world's largest real-world evidence study of digitally enabled obesity care, presented at the International Congress on Obesity (ICO 2026) in Mexico City. Analysing deidentified data from more than 500,000 adults who have accessed GLP-1 treatment through regulated digital providers, the results are striking: ➡️ Average weight loss of over 16% after 12 months ➡️ 37% of patients completing 12 months lost more than 20% of their body weight ➡️ A 75% reduction in the proportion of patients with Class III obesity ➡️ Patients accessing treatment across all levels of socioeconomic deprivation This is the strongest real-world evidence yet of how GLP-1 therapies, combined with clinical oversight, behavioural coaching and ongoing monitoring, are performing in everyday practice. Evidence that goes beyond the limitations of clinical trials, and incorporates broader demographic information, long-term adherence and wraparound care. We're proud to be part of a study of this scale, and to keep contributing to a stronger evidence base for the sector. Read the press release here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gAiK-M2v #DigitalHealthcare #ObesityManagement #GLP1 #ICO2026 Digital Clinical Excellence