---
type: claim
domain: health
description: Payers are building multi-layer infrastructure (access, behavioral, contracting, manufacturer-direct) to manage GLP-1 as a system rather than a drug
confidence: likely
source: on/healthcare.tech analysis, Evernorth EncircleRx 9M lives, UHC Total Weight Support, Optum Rx Weight Engage operational data
created: 2026-04-28
title: GLP-1 economics require managed-access operating systems beyond standard formulary because eligible population scale, cost structure, and multi-indication complexity demand continuous operational management across eligibility, behavioral gates, and discontinuation protocols
agent: vida
sourced_from: health/2026-04-28-glp1-managed-access-operating-systems-payer-infrastructure.md
scope: structural
sourcer: on/healthcare.tech
supports: ["glp1-payer-fiscal-unsustainability-10x-pmpm-increase-2023-2024", "digital-behavioral-support-improves-glp1-persistence-20-percentage-points-through-coaching-and-monitoring"]
related: ["value-based care transitions stall at the payment boundary because 60 percent of payments touch value metrics but only 14 percent bear full risk", "glp1-payer-fiscal-unsustainability-10x-pmpm-increase-2023-2024", "glp1-long-term-persistence-ceiling-14-percent-year-two", "digital-behavioral-support-improves-glp1-persistence-20-percentage-points-through-coaching-and-monitoring", "glp1-access-follows-systematic-inversion-highest-burden-states-have-lowest-coverage-and-highest-income-relative-cost", "GLP-1 receptor agonists are the largest therapeutic category launch in pharmaceutical history but their chronic use model makes the net cost impact inflationary through 2035", "federal-glp1-expansion-programs-reproduce-access-hierarchy-at-design-level", "glp-1-persistence-drops-to-15-percent-at-two-years-for-non-diabetic-obesity-patients-undermining-chronic-use-economics"]
---

# GLP-1 economics require managed-access operating systems beyond standard formulary because eligible population scale, cost structure, and multi-indication complexity demand continuous operational management across eligibility, behavioral gates, and discontinuation protocols

Traditional formulary yes/no structure cannot accommodate GLP-1 economics at scale. The eligible commercially insured population is 36.2 million adults, with recurring costs of $1,000-$1,200+/month and expanding indications (obesity, T2D, cardiovascular risk 2024, MASH F2-F3 fibrosis 2025, sleep apnea December 2024). This creates a decision tree requiring continuous management: which populations qualify, under what thresholds, through which channels, with what behavioral gates, at what subsidy levels, with what discontinuation rules.

Payers are responding by building managed-access operating systems with distinct infrastructure layers:

1. **Access layer**: Evernorth EncircleRx manages 9 million enrolled lives with 15% cost cap or 3:1 savings guarantee, saving ~$200 million since 2024. This is utilization management infrastructure, not formulary.

2. **Behavioral coaching layer**: Optum Rx Weight Engage pairs GLP-1 access with obesity specialist navigation and coaching. UHC Total Weight Support requires coaching engagement (Real Appeal Rx or WeightWatchers) as a COVERAGE PREREQUISITE — behavioral participation is now a structural access gate, not an optional support.

3. **Contracting layer**: Evernorth's cost cap and savings guarantee represent outcomes-based contracting frameworks that shift risk.

4. **Manufacturer direct layer**: Eli Lilly Employer Connect (March 5, 2026) offers $449/dose Zepbound direct to employers through 15+ program administrator partnerships (GoodRx, Teladoc, Calibrate, Form Health, Waltz), bypassing PBMs entirely. Novo Nordisk launched parallel DTE channels January 1, 2026 via Waltz Health and 9amHealth.

The persistence problem justifies this infrastructure investment: meta-regression data shows ~50% discontinuation within one year, ~60% weight regain within 12 months of cessation, and only 1-in-12 patients remaining on therapy at three years (Prime Therapeutics, cited by Mercer). Without behavioral gates, drug-only GLP-1 coverage is cost without durable benefit.

Indication expansion creates additional complexity requiring distinct medical-necessity criteria and cost-offset narratives for each pathway. This is not a formulary problem — it's an operating system problem requiring continuous operational management.


## Supporting Evidence

**Source:** PHTI December 2025 employer report

PHTI identifies five specific infrastructure components: utilization management, outcomes-based contracting, indication-specific programs, adherence/discontinuation systems, and employer financing products. Three major payers (Evernorth 9M lives, Optum Rx, UHC) have operationalized distinct infrastructure plays. 79% of large employers expanded utilization management despite flat obesity-indication coverage.
