Mountain Talk: The Economics of GLP-1s : Lehigh University

About the Event

The medical care costs associated with obesity are substantial, exceeding $260 billion in the United States in 2016. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have significantly expanded the set of clinically effective therapies for obesity, offering meaningful weight loss and cardiometabolic benefits. However, the high price of these medications raises important questions regarding affordability and cost-effectiveness for both public and private payers.

In this talk, Chad Meyerhoefer will examine key challenges in estimating the medical care costs attributable to obesity and discuss strategies for producing policy-relevant cost estimates. He will also consider emerging evidence on which patient populations derive the greatest benefit from GLP-1 therapies.

Meyerhoefer will conclude with a discussion of policy approaches to improving access, including the potential role of government programs in price negotiation and coverage expansion, and the
implications of these policies for chronic disease burden and long-term healthcare spending.

Cost: Free to attend

Staff Contact: Bryce Neff

About the Speaker

Chad Meyerhoefer holds the Arthur F. Searing Professorship in the department of economics and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses broadly on the economics of health and nutrition and involves using microeconometric methods to evaluate and inform public policy. He has published over fifty peer-reviewed journal articles in addition to numerous book chapters, conference proceedings, and research reports. His research has appeared in top field journals in economics, such as the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Health Economics and PharmacoEconomics, and leading journals in health policy, medicine, and dentistry.

Meyerhoefer’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has received several awards from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, including the Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award and the Outstanding American Journal of Agricultural Economics Journal Article and Reviewer awards. The Lehigh University Graduate Student Senate has also recognized Meyerhoefer for his mentorship of Ph.D. students.

Before joining the faculty at Lehigh, Meyerhoefer served as a research economist at both the CNA Corporation and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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