PepsiCo Inc. is ending insurance coverage for prescription weight-loss medications for some employees effective October, as costs of GLP-1 drugs surge.
Staff were informed this week in an email from Express Scripts, Cigna Group’s pharmacy benefits manager. The message, reviewed by Bloomberg, stated that weight-loss drugs are now “one of the fastest-growing costs in the PepsiCo plans” and that dropping them will help “maintain a healthcare programme that is sustainable and affordable for all PepsiCo employees.”
The maker of Mountain Dew, Cheetos and Doritos said workers who wish to continue treatment can pay outside company plans. The email pointed to new “cash-pay affordability pathways” for commonly used weight-loss drugs that were not previously available to individual patients.
PepsiCo joins a wider pullback by corporate America. Blockbuster GLP-1s like Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly have driven high demand but also mounting budget concerns for employers and insurers.
A Mercer survey shows six per cent of large employers already dropped weight-loss drug coverage in 2026, while five per cent plan to in 2027. Another survey by Business Group on Health found coverage among large employers fell to 60 per cent this year from 72 per cent last year.
Cigna CEO Brian Evanko noted on a July earnings call that GLP-1 prescription growth has moderated, with its pharmacy benefit arm seeing declines in employer coverage and slower utilisation.
