CenterWell Pharmacy, a specialty and home delivery pharmacy, will dispense obesity management medications from Eli Lilly & Co. as part of a new employer-focused program overseen by independent third-party administrators.
The Humana arm will support eligible patients who participate in approved employer plan-sponsored obesity management carve-out programs, while the third-party organizations will support employer groups and provide health plan members with a flexible, transparent solution, according to CenterWell officials.
“Employers continue to tell us they want to better support their employees’ health but face real challenges in providing coverage for obesity management medicines,” Lilly Employer Senior Vice President Kevin Hern at Lilly USA said in a statement. “We’re excited to work with organizations that share our commitment to removing friction and providing flexible, transparent solutions for employers to help expand access to obesity management medicines for people who need them.”
The move underscores CenterWell Pharmacy’s focus on building closer connections with employers to enhance health care access and affordability, company officials added.
“We’ve already seen success in expanding access to obesity management medications through direct-to-patient distribution at more affordable price points,” said Bethanie Stein, president of Pharmacy at Humana, (including CenterWell Pharmacy). “But there is an even larger opportunity for our health care system in making these medications available through forward-thinking employer-based programs.”
In November, Lilly and Novo Nordisk A/S announced plans to start selling their popular obesity shots — Zepbound and Wegovy, respectively — to employers through a new approach that would bypass traditional drug sales channels in an effort to expand access to the costly weight-loss medicines.
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