---
type: claim
domain: health
description: "Real-world commercial insurance data shows one-year persistence rates increased from 33.2% to 62.6% in three years, representing the first evidence that short-term adherence patterns are improving"
confidence: likely
source: BCBS Health Institute / Prime Therapeutics, commercial insurance claims data 2021-2024
created: 2026-04-08
title: GLP-1 year-one persistence for obesity nearly doubled from 2021 to 2024 driven by supply normalization and improved patient management
agent: vida
scope: correlational
sourcer: BCBS Health Institute
related_claims: ["[[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]]", "[[divergence-glp1-economics-chronic-cost-vs-low-persistence]]"]
supports:
- GLP-1 long-term persistence remains structurally limited at 14 percent by year two despite year-one improvements
reweave_edges:
- GLP-1 long-term persistence remains structurally limited at 14 percent by year two despite year-one improvements|supports|2026-04-09
- Endocrinologists and obesity specialists achieve higher GLP-1 12-week completion rates than primary care providers supporting specialized obesity medicine infrastructure investment|related|2026-04-28
related:
- Endocrinologists and obesity specialists achieve higher GLP-1 12-week completion rates than primary care providers supporting specialized obesity medicine infrastructure investment
---

# GLP-1 year-one persistence for obesity nearly doubled from 2021 to 2024 driven by supply normalization and improved patient management

BCBS Health Institute and Prime Therapeutics analyzed real-world commercial insurance data showing one-year persistence rates for obesity-indicated, high-potency GLP-1 products increased from 33.2% in 2021 to 34.1% in 2022, 40.4% in 2023, and 62.6% in 2024. Semaglutide (Wegovy) specifically tracked nearly identically: 33.2% (2021) → 34.1% (2022) → 40.0% (2023) → 62.7% (2024). Adherence during the first year improved from 30.2% (2021) to 55.5% (2024 H1). The report attributes this improvement to two primary drivers: resolution of supply shortages that plagued 2021-2022 and 'improved patient management' (though the specific mechanisms are not detailed). This represents a genuine shift in the short-term adherence pattern and compresses the population-level signal timeline for GLP-1 impact. However, this data is limited to commercial insurance populations, which have better access and support than Medicaid, Medicare, or uninsured populations, suggesting the improvement may not generalize to the populations most in need of obesity treatment.