Vitality Insurance partners with Boots to offer discounted weight loss jabs and services

Vitality Insurance has announced an ‘industry-first’ partnership with Boots to provide weight loss jabs and services for its members – with bigger savings for those who exercise most.

The health and life insurance firm said the partnership will begin with its members being given discounted access to Boots Online Doctor Weight Loss Service from this spring.

But the partnership will go on to provide access to a wider range of services and products, Vitality added.

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The discount patients receive on weight loss treatment will depend on their Vitality status, which can be improved by exercising or doing other healthy activities.

Bronze tier patients will be offered 10% off weight loss medicines; silver tier patients will be offered 15% off; gold tier patients will be given 20% off and platinum tier patients – the highest tier – will be offered 25% off.

The service combines weight loss jabs and clinical care with access to a range of wraparound support, including an app to track progress, a programme promoting behavioural changes, and a free 12-month aftercare programme for customers who have stopped medication.

Vitality chief executive, Neville Koopowitz, said: ‘Prevention represents one of the greatest opportunities of our time to improve health outcomes at scale, extend longevity and reduce the long-term cost burden on society.

‘Realising this, requires a fundamental shift in how health is approached across the system, including the role insurers play. Through this partnership we will give members the tools and support to manage their weight, reduce associated health risk, and improve their health.’

Research conducted by Vitality showed that combining GLP-1 weight loss medications with moderate exercise could reduce in-hospital costs by up to 63% within a year, almost twice the savings of the medication alone.

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The research – based on a treatment group of 91,975 and a control group of just over one million – also found that 13% of patients stopped exercising after starting GLP-1 treatment.

This highlighted the need for ongoing behavioural support to ensure health benefits and any weight loss are maintained, Boots said.

Chief healthcare officer at Boots, Jamie Kerruish, added: ‘Given the growing demand for weight loss medicines to treat obesity and their huge potential for transforming the nation’s health, kicking off this partnership with our Boots Online Doctor Weight Loss Service was an easy choice.

‘We are incredibly proud of our weight loss service proposition. Not only do we provide access to medicines to those who need them, we also offer a total support package that will help patients to make the lifestyle and behavioural changes to manage their weight sustainably.’

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Boots also recently launched an in-store weight loss service in 17 branches across the UK, offering access to weight loss treatment ‘on the high street’ for those who are eligible through an in-person consultation with a pharmacist independent prescriber.

Last week, England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, said that preventing obesity was ‘overwhelmingly better’ than allowing rates to rise and putting people on weight loss drugs.