Starbucks is reportedly ending coverage of GLP-1 medications prescribed for weight loss for benefits-eligible employees beginning in October, while continuing coverage when those same medications are prescribed for other health conditions. This decision goes beyond employee benefits. It reinforces a double standard in how obesity is recognized and treated within healthcare and society.
When Coverage Treats Obesity Differently
Obesity is a complex, chronic disease, and people living with obesity deserve access to appropriate, science-based care. That can include FDA-approved medications, surgery, nutrition support, behavioral interventions or a combination of treatments.
When a health plan covers a medication for one chronic disease but excludes it when the diagnosis is obesity, people living with obesity are being held to a different standard. That is what weight bias can look like in healthcare.
Bias is not always a comment, joke or stereotype. It can also show up in policies and systems that make it harder for people living with obesity to get the care they need and deserve.
The Starbucks Disconnect
The decision is especially striking because Starbucks has acknowledged how GLP-1 medications are changing consumer behavior. CEO Brian Niccol has pointed to growing GLP-1 use as one reason the company is expanding protein-rich food and beverage options.
Starbucks is responding to customers who use GLP-1 medications while reportedly taking obesity treatment coverage away from employees. Employees living with obesity deserve better.
No Bias. Extra Equity.
Starbucks has long been recognized as a leader in employee benefits, including extending access to benefits to eligible part-time employees working as few as 20 hours per week.
Healthcare costs are a real challenge for employers, but the answer should not be unequal treatment based on a person’s diagnosis. Starbucks has built its reputation, in part, by making benefits accessible to a broad range of employees, including part-time workers. It now has an opportunity to demonstrate that same leadership by recognizing obesity as a chronic disease and giving employees living with obesity the same consideration afforded to those managing other chronic conditions.
What can I do to #StopWeightBias ?
Tell Starbucks that employees living with obesity deserve equitable access to care. Take action through the OAC Action Center and ask Starbucks to reverse its decision to end GLP-1 coverage for obesity.
