Point32Health will dramatically change how and when it pays for Zepbound — the insurer’s preferred GLP-1 weight-loss drug— when used to treat overweight or obesity.

Zepbound — the brand name for tirzepatide — is the most effective GLP-1 medication for weight loss, according to one study.

Injected weight-loss drugs Wegovy, from Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly's Zepbound have U.S. list prices of over $1,000 a month. For some patients, much of that cost is covered by health insurance. For those without coverage, both Novo and Lilly recently began selling their drugs directly to U.S. consumers at a cash price of $499 a month.

CVS Caremark decided to stop offering Zepbound in favor of Wegovy for weight loss. It’s the latest example of limits imposed by insurance that disrupt treatments for patients.

A U.S. federal judge has sided with a U.S. regulator's decision last year to take Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro off a list of medicines in short supply,

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Health and wellness companies are embracing weight-loss drugs and building offerings around them in an effort to avoid the fate of WeightWatchers, which declared bankruptcy this week, citing vastly increased use of the new blockbuster medicines.