WeightWatchers has a plan to help employers lower healthcare costs

As employees flock to medication management for weight loss, employers are questioning how to pay for it while juggling rising healthcare costs — but this famous weight loss platform thinks it has an answer. 

WeightWatchers has been in the employer space for over 35 years as a discounted perk companies can offer their workers. But since the fall of 2023, the wellness app, as well as its clinic, are now available as a fully covered employee benefit, offering resources like a diabetes management program and nutrition workshops, as well as prescriptions and clinical guidance for GLP-1 medications.

WeightWatchers believes their offerings can help employees become healthier and control healthcare costs in the process. Obesity and unhealthy weight gain are estimated to cost employers and employees $425.5 billion in medical and insurance expenses, disability payments, absenteeism and presentism, according to analytics company Global Data. 

"Employers are the ones largely burdened [by] rising healthcare costs and unfavorable medical trends in this country," says Dr. Amy Meister, chief medical officer at WeightWatchers. "Whether you're struggling with weight, you have diabetes or high blood pressure, we can improve those conditions and help mitigate spend."

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Given the comorbidities that come up with obesity, like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma, WeightWatchers' preventative care approach can support a variety of health outcomes. Dr. Meister underlines that WeightWatchers is not solely for weight loss but also to prevent and manage these health conditions that may come with poor nutrition or genetic predispositions (or a combination of both). 

Employees can engage with the benefits platform via app, which gives them access to nutritional guidance, dietician support and providers who can schedule appointments with them. 

"Whether you need our behavioral lifestyle program or intervention with a registered dietician, or even someone who needs physicians capable of prescribing medicine through our clinic, we can help," says Dr. Meister. "And rather than waiting eight months for a brick-and-mortar practice, we have the ability to seize an [appointment] for people within a week's time. You don't have to go out and shop for multiple-point solutions."

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While WeightWatchers may not be the solution for every employer looking to mitigate healthcare costs, Dr. Meister stresses the importance of companies investing in improving the well-being of their workers. The costs of looming health conditions like obesity, cancer and heart disease are only going to get worse — an employer's best bet is to focus on preventing these diseases within their workforce, she says. 

"You don't want to end up with unplanned care," she says. "Unplanned care is certainly an expensive cost driver for the nation's employers and insurers across the U.S. today."

Read more: Why it might be cheaper for every employee to have their own health plan

Dr. Meister's advice to employers is to find wellness solutions that tackle the most prominent health conditions or challenges their employees are at risk for. This may mean launching a company-wide survey and digging through claims data to get a better idea of what's driving healthcare costs for employers and employees alike. 

"Partner with companies that will offer solutions that will help your employees live healthier lives," says Dr. Meister. "A healthier workforce is a happier one — and ultimately a less costly one."