GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are not just shedding pounds and trimming waistlines. The popular prescription medications are sweeping through health care, reducing demand for weight-loss operations and improving heart health.
That's the conclusion of new research from Wells Fargo, which examined how weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound will reshape the health care industry's economy. Think hospitals adapting to less demand for weight-loss operations and emphasizing prevention over expensive heart procedures and operations.
"It shifts the profit centers from late-stage treatment and intervention to really being more proactive with the management of obesity," said Robin Wenzel, head of Wells Fargo's industry insights.
Weight-loss surgeries drop sharply in the GLP-1 era
A May 2026 study in the peer-reviewed
medical journal JAMA found bariatric weight-loss operations dropped 34% from 2022 to 2024 while GLP-1 use increased 140% over the same period. In other words, some might be prescribed weight-loss medication, such as Wegovy and Zepbound, instead of weight-loss operations.
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery will soon release its own figures on the drop in weight-loss surgeries since GLP-1s have been more widely used, said Dr. Joe Northup, president of ASMBS.
While existing weight-loss medications have worked for many patients, Northup said some discontinue the drug due to side effects or when they're unable to reach their weight-loss goals. He sees a future where some patients get medications while others choose surgery.
"We're starting to see patients come back (for surgery) after having tried these medicines for a year or six months," he said.
The weight-loss medications also are prescribed to improve heart health. One study found semaglutide, sold under brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, reduced major adverse cardiovascular events by 20% in overweight or obese adults without diabetes. That could translate to fewer heart procedures and repeat hospital visits for people at higher risk due to obesity.
GLP-1 users with obesity and an autoimmune disease, such as celiac disease or rheumatoid arthritis, were less likely to suffer strokes, blood clots in the veins or lungs, or other cardiac events compared to a similar group who didn't take the weight-loss medications, according to a June study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
These weight-loss medications transform lives and improve heart health as people with obesity lose weight, lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol, according to Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine specialist, educator and policymaker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
"I can attest to the fact that we see this in clinical practice," Stanford said. "We actually see this happen."
Still unclear is how the weight-loss drugs will affect the number of people who seek hip and knee replacements. People who lose weight might experience less wear and tear on their knees, for example. Or weight loss could mean more people with obesity become eligible for joint-replacement surgery. Others might increase their activity after losing weight, accelerating wear and tear on their joints.
A 2024 JAMA Network Open study linked weight loss among overweight or obese adults to lower health care spending overall. But those potential savings will be achieved only if consumers get access to the medication, and that's an open question for some adults.
Beyond transforming the economics of the health care industry, GLP-1's have ushered in cultural changes, influencing how consumers shop for food, clothes and health and beauty products.
Who will pay the GLP-1 tab?
Drugmakers continue to study newer versions of weight-loss drugs that are expected to deliver even more dramatic weight loss.
Eli Lilly, maker of Zepbound, said a study showed people on its experimental, next-generation weight-loss shot retatrutide achieved weight loss of 19% to 28%. The results for some people were on par with weight-loss surgery. Retatrutide works differently than existing medications because it mimics three hormones − GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonists.
Wells Fargo reported the pipeline of weight-loss medications now surpasses cancer drugs as the most valuable category of products on the horizon. Goldman Sachs projects global sales of weight-loss medications will be about $105 billion by 2030.
Even as Medicare has launched coverage of GLP-1's for older adults, some employers and insurers are balking at paying for these expensive medications. Starbucks, for example, said it would no longer coverthe cost of GLP-1 weight-loss medications for employees beginning in October.
A recent survey from the benefits consultant Mercer found about 6% of large employers will drop coverage of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs in 2026 and another 5% plan to drop coverage in 2027. Nearly half of large employers covered the weight loss drugs in 2025.
Both Lilly and Novo Nordisk, maker of Wegovy, have cut prices for consumers who buy the medications directly from the drugmakers or through telehealth companies that have partnered with the drugmakers. Still, the medications can be difficult to afford for consumers whose insurance doesn't cover the medications, or for those who are uninsured.
Stanford said it's disappointing that some employers and insurance companies are withdrawing coverage of weight-loss medications for patients. She said she has witnessed the impact of major Massachusetts insurers scaling back coverage of GLP-1s for weight loss.
"For those patients who loss coverage and weren't able to afford out-of-pocket options, we're seeing weight gain and the reemergence of those cardio-metabolic diseases that had gone into remission," Stanford said. "That's really a missed opportunity for these patients who were gaining health. We're seeing a reversal."
Ken Alltucker is a consumer health reporter at USA TODAY; reach him at alltuck@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wegovy and Zepbound are changing how Americans get health care
