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GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

glp1digest.com

341–350 of 640 posts

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#341

The last thing I will ever give a rats ass about is insurance companies. They are the scourge of this earth but they have used legislation to embed themselves in our every day lives. I live in California and have no claims ever. My home insurance has doubled in 4 years to almost $4000 a year. My car insurance is about $2800/yr. So I hope insurance companies break. Like Danerys said in Gamr of Thrones, I hope someone…

$4000/year might be a lot or a little. If you own a $5m house up against a forest it's probably a bargain. The car price could reflect a bunch of factors.

Pay some broker for a one-off consultation to advise you on how to save money.

Reality is insurance companies are now going though a cycle of "price in the actual risk" rather than "drop prices to gain customers"

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#342
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't even that awful in maintenance -- just expensive. The unpleasant part is when you're increasing the dose. After a while at the same dose, it's more or less unnoticeable IMO.

Unnoticable meaning doesn't have any effect at all, or just no bad side effects?

I’ve been on 15mg (the highest dose) of Zepbound for the past six months. As of right this second I’ve lost 74 pounds since September 2024 when I switched to Zepbound after having a terrible experience with Ozempic/Wegovy and gaining from 260-308.

I notice no ill effects, I just had my three month checkup with the doctor and he thinks I’m good on maintenance mode at max dose, I’ve still got about 34 pounds as my total weight loss goal. Really an ideal case.

For my wife on the other hand she just has constant diarrhea which she blames on the drug, and is only on 5mg. She also gets headaches from the medicine. She’s lost only 20 pounds, even though she needs to lose another 120 or so to be “healthy weight”.

However, before she started taking Zepbound she was only able to walk a few hundred feet at a time, because her back hurt so terribly. The anti inflammatory “side effects” she’s experiencing have massively improved her quality of life, even without huge amounts of weight loss.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#343
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain what sucks about being on the prescriptions?

I'm just reporting my cached knowledge of people saying they experienced some adverse side effects. Also injections are not fun, even though they are probably a lot less annoying than they look.

I had terrible side effects with Ozempic but have had minimal side effects with Zepbound that have disappeared over time. I just wake up on Thursdays and inject it first thing.

The auto pen misfired the other day and I called Eli Lilly and they immediately emailed me a voucher for a free 4 pack of the shots. It’s also eliminated my sleep apnea (via the weight loss).

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just reporting my cached knowledge of people saying they experienced some adverse side effects. Also injections are not fun, even though they are probably a lot less annoying than they look.

In the 10 or so people I know who are on it, nearly all actually seem to enjoy it - reduced addictive tendencies/bad habits, appetite control, and reduced allergies seem to pretty well outweigh the minor side effects.

I’m INVESTING more. I’ve paid off like $15,000 in debts this year. I swear it’s because of the Zepbound.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long ago was this?

I started in Aug 2024 and stopped in Oct 2024. I paid for it from one of the pharmacies that made it in Florida. I injected myself with insulin needles that they send you.

No offense, but that's not particularly impressive and you're bragging about your discipline a bit prematurely. It's highly likely in the next ten years you will regain most of the weight back.

I've known many, many, people to lose weight via extreme diets such as keto. Such diets are unsustainable for almost everyone. It will work for a year or two, but inevitably, they will falter. Often it only takes a very small amount of stress - maybe a hard project at work.

I have never met anyone who uses something like keto successfully. It has always failed, with everyone I've talked to. That doesn't your diet is as extreme as keto. But, it does mean you're not out of the woods, and your perspective on this isn't exactly trustworthy.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is obesity the only disease that taking medicine for is “cheating”? Which is more important: instilling your particular version of “discipline” into people, or saving billions in healthcare costs and millions of lives from suffering?

Cheat code was probably not the best term for it, I'll admit. I don't fault anyone for chosing to try GLP-1s and the cause of obeseity isn't particularly on the individual given the prevailance of ultra processed foods and car transportation in our society. That all being said, regaining most, if not all, the weight has been a historical issue around weight loss treatments because they're not durable. The way we're p…

> That all being said, regaining most, if not all, the weight has been a historical issue around weight loss treatments because they're not durable.

Almost all diets are not durable or sustainable. This is not unique to weightloss drugs - most people who lose weight, regain it.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#347
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is obesity the only disease that taking medicine for is “cheating”? Which is more important: instilling your particular version of “discipline” into people, or saving billions in healthcare costs and millions of lives from suffering?

It’s usually a self inflicted disease. Your own actions cause it most of the time

Sure, but the bigger question is: does this matter?

If we think about it longer than, say, 5 seconds, we will realize no, it does not.

Your particular desire for punishment is not really relevant to anything. That's not how medicine operates, and that's a good thing. You're attempting to make a moral argument here. Moral arguments are usually stupid and worthless - try making a different argument.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it’s remarkable how much subsidized GLP-1 access Americans are getting Mounjaro is between 25-50% of the US price in other countries

I was referring to insurance coverage. Most people aren’t paying that inflated price. Whenever you see a very large number for a medication or service in the United States, the patient doesn’t actually pay that number. Companies generally have separate coverage programs for people paying out of pocket that drastically reduces the patient pay amount. Those giant numbers attached to medications are virtually never paid…

It’s hard to find hard data on this but this[0] seems to think 20-30% of plans will cover for obesity.

The Lily and Novo Nordisk coupons seem to have quite short availability windows, according to several years of reading the various related subreddits.

The cost difference here is real.

0: https://www.goodrx.com/insurance/health-insurance/weight-los...

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#349

I was on Mounjaro for two months. I was also dieting and walking 10k steps a day. I lost 25 lb and my A1C went down to 5.0 from 5.7. All my cholesterol numbers were in range. I stopped taking it and lost 25 more. I haven’t regained the weight. People who gain it back did not learn the lesson and did not effectively change their habits. You need the discipline - and a good support system. But if you don’t have that an…

[flagged]

yeah lets stop giving antidepressants as well

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#350

The solution is for life insurance companies to pay people to stay on ozempic

The “payment” can come in the form of lower rates, with penalties if you stop.

We already do something similar with smoking cessation. They, essentially, pay you to quit smoking.

The social difference is that we frame smoking as an addiction, and smokers as victims of the Tobacco industry. But we frame obesity as a moral failing. So, the former we're ready to jump in and help. But, the latter, we are much more hesitant.

Theoretically, economic outcomes would override these social and moral effects. But leadership is often stupid, so we'll see.

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