Cigna drops coverage for Wegovy and Zepbound in employee plan

Cigna will stop covering popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, in its own employee health plan on July 1, a move that underscores how sharply employers are reassessing the cost of obesity treatment.

Employees were notified in an email on June 1. Cigna said the change would not affect its other health plans outside the employee plan, and it would not alter coverage for GLP-1 drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes. The company said availability had improved and new options had emerged, while it still aimed to support workers through other weight-management programs and resources.

The decision lands in the middle of a broader coverage squeeze. The Cigna Group had 67,700 employees at the end of 2025, most of them in the United States, so the policy touches a large workforce and may be read as a signal by other large employers wrestling with the same math. KFF’s 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey found that average family premiums for employer coverage reached $26,993 in 2025, up 6% from the prior year, while workers paid an average $6,850 toward family coverage.

Coverage for GLP-1s has expanded even as employers worry about the bill. KFF found that 43% of large firms with more than 5,000 workers covered GLP-1 drugs for weight loss in 2025, up from 28% in 2024. That increase shows how quickly the drugs moved from specialty treatment to a mainstream benefit, but also how fast they have become a pressure point for health plans trying to control utilization and spending.

The market is shifting toward cheaper cash-pay options, but the prices still add up. Novo Nordisk’s NovoCare Pharmacy lists self-pay Wegovy and Ozempic options starting at $149 or $199 a month depending on formulation and dose, with some prices changing after June 30, 2026. Reuters also reported that TrumpRx will offer starting doses of existing injections like Wegovy and Zepbound at $350 a month, with prices planned to fall to $245 over two years, while future oral GLP-1s are targeted at $149 a month pending Food and Drug Administration approval.

That still leaves employers with a hard choice. Even as discounts and new delivery channels narrow the gap between insured and cash prices, GLP-1s remain one of the most expensive drug classes in U.S. medicine when they are used broadly for weight loss. Cigna’s retreat from its own employee plan suggests the long-term question is no longer whether these drugs work, but how many companies can afford to keep paying for widespread access.