Vitality has become the first health insurer in the UK to offer customers discounted weight loss treatments for up to a year through its health cover.
Vitality, the UK’s third-largest health insurer behind Bupa and Axa, with 1.9 million members, says it will offer discounts of up to 20% for medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – which are popular but pricey – to members, based on their body mass index (BMI) and weight-related health conditions.
Members – 80% of whom are signed up through their employer – can apply by completing their health profile through the Vitality app. If they have a BMI of 35 or over, they can apply for the new medicated weight-loss pathway, which includes coaching with a dietitian and discounted anti-obesity drugs for up to 12 months based on their health risks. The scheme will be run by Second Nature, a digital weight-loss group.
Other leading health insurers do not include anti-obesity drugs in their cover.
Since 2023, Bupa has offered its customers a weight-loss management plan on a pay-as-you-go basis. After an appointment with a Bupa GP, Wegovy or Mounjaro may be prescribed, with regular check-ins and lifestyle coaching. It costs between £225 and £345 a month, depending on the dose, plus an initial consultation fee of £99.
Axa argues that private medical insurance covers unexpected illnesses and acute conditions, rather than chronic health problems. It says it welcomes the benefits of weight-loss treatments but adds that “there is still much to discover in how to best to use weight-loss injections to ensure effective, sustainable and healthy long-term weight loss”.
Aviva, the UK’s fourth-biggest health insurer, says its private medical insurance also provides cover for acute conditions – “that is, a disease, illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to treatment”, it says.
“Treatment with drugs, such as Ozempic or semaglutide, for diabetes or weight loss, is not currently a benefit under our policies,” it adds.
These drugs, called GLP-1s after the gut hormone they mimic to suppress appetite, have proved hugely popular. Injected by users once a week, studies have also shown other health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart attacks and kidney disease.
However, for most people they come with a hefty price tag. Wegovy, made by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, starts at £139 for a month’s supply in the UK at online pharmacy prices, rising to £269 for higher doses. It was approved for use by the NHS in 2023 (but only for those fitting strict criteria), and has been shown to achieve up to a 15% reduction in body weight after one year.
Just over a year ago, Mounjaro, made by the US drug company Eli Lilly, became the second obesity treatment to be approved for use on the NHS in the UK. It costs from £139 a month at online pharmacies, and showed weight loss of about 20% in clinical trials.
The use of anti-obesity drugs aims to build on Vitality’s existing weight-loss programme, which uses reward-based incentives to encourage customers to adopt a healthier lifestyle through better diet and more exercise, with nearly half (48%) of enrolled members reaching their targets of about 5% weight loss. This can lead to a lower insurance excess, as well as other rewards.
Dr Katie Tryon, the chief commercial director at Vitality, says: “While some risk factors are reducing in the workplace, like smoking and alcohol … the ones that are coming out as ever-increasing are the number of people living with obesity, as well as mental health and musculoskeletal issues.”
Tryon says the company has been inundated with queries from members and non-clients about the weight-loss programme, which is due to go live in the next couple of months.
