Private benefits plan sponsors’ spending on weight-management drugs has quadrupled since 2021, according to a new report by Telus Health.
In 2024 alone, the category doubled in size, ranking No. 17 overall by eligible amount (up from No. 29 in 2023). Still, the category’s budget impact remains low. By the end of June 2025, the category accounted for 2.4 per cent of the total eligible amount, one per cent of claimants and 0.4 per cent of claims.
Within the category, the eligible amount skyrocketed by 104.1 per cent in 2024, led by British Columbia (with a 173.5 per cent increase) and Ontario (107.1 per cent). The pattern repeated for claimant counts, with a national growth rate of 59.8 per cent and regional rates of 104 per cent in B.C. and 62.5 per cent in Ontario.
Read: Weight management drug claims up 90.6% in 2024: report
By the end of June 2025, the average eligible amount per claim was $473.27, 15.4 per cent more than in 2021 ($410.28). The overall average annual eligible amount per claimant was $2,008.58 in 2024, an increase of 27.8 per cent over 2023.
Birth control accounted for 1.4 per cent of Telus Health’s total book of business as of June 30, 2025, compared to 2.2 per cent at the end of 2021. Similarly, contraceptives’ share of claimants declined from 11 per cent in 2021 to 7.9 per cent by the end of June 2025, and the share of claims decreased from 3.6 per cent to 2.6 per cent.
Declines began in 2023, after the launch of B.C.’s free program. The number of claimants in B.C. dropped by 21.2 per cent in 2023 and 24.9 per cent in 2024. Claimant counts also dropped in Quebec, Alberta and Ontario. Notably, many B.C. residents continued to submit claims to private plans, with the claimant count in 2024 being 59.2 per cent of what it was in 2022.
Overall, birth control was a low-cost category for private plans, with the average eligible amount per claim being $46.59 in 2024 and claimants submitting 3.9 claims that year, resulting in an average annual eligible amount of $180.34.
Read: Diabetes medications remain leading drug category for eligible claims in 2023: report
The migraine category’s share of the total eligible amount was 1.4 per cent by the end of 2024, up from 1.1 per cent in 2021. Plan sponsors’ spending increased by double digits since 2019, with growth of 26.7 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of claimants grew 6.4 per cent in 2024, on the heels of almost no growth in 2023.
As of June 2025, 15.3 per cent of claimants in the migraine category were taking calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitors, up from 2.4 per cent in 2021. Their share of the eligible amount more than doubled, from 26.7 per cent in 2021 to 57.2 per cent by mid-2025.
The average eligible amount per claim was $155.83 in 2024, 17.7 per cent more than in 2023, and climbed to $170.11 by the end of June 2025. The average annual eligible amount per claimant grew 19.1 per cent in 2024, reaching $610.48, compared to $410.58 in 2021.
For the past few years, the cholesterol medication category has been stable, but the first six months of 2025 suggest the category’s budget impact may be growing. Its share of claimants grew significantly to 13.8 per cent, and its share of the total eligible amount increased to 2.3 per cent. The last three years saw double-digit increases in eligible amounts submitted to private drug plans, with a gain of 11.4 per cent in 2024. Claimant counts grew by 6.3 per cent in 2024.
The number of claimants using proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors grew by 30.1 per cent in 2022, 7.1 per cent in 2023 and 23.2 per cent in 2024. Higher price points have grown PCSK9s’ share of the eligible amount from 11.1 per cent in 2021 to 16.4 per cent in 2025.
Read: Plan sponsors continue to underestimate chronic illness in the workforce: 2025 BCHS