DeKalb County employees will still have insured access to GLP-1s

DeKalb County employees are expected to continue to have insured access to a drug commonly prescribed by doctors to help with weight loss after a change in policy was considered.

The DeKalb County Board considered on Aug. 18 whether or not health insurance should cover GLP-1s – a type of medication that has transformed health outcomes for those who struggle with diabetes, obesity, and liver function this decade – if it's been prescribed by a doctor for weight loss. Instead of being able to have their health insurance cover the drug, people prescribed GLP-1s for weight loss would have had to utilize an RxSaveCard program, according to county documents.

Rhonda Henke, a Republican from District 1, said she was "uncomfortable with singling out a subset of employees for taking a specific medication."

"I fear – I'm just grasping at straws here, but I'm flipping out because I fear one day it could become a slippery slope," Henke said. "If they single out one group now for a specific medication, what will they carve out next, or will they carve out something next?"

The DeKalb County Board voted down the measure 18-3 while Rebecca Johnson, a Republican from District 12, abstained.

DeKalb County Board Chairman John Frieders, a Republican from District 12, voted in favor of the change.

"Many public sector operations are dropping this benefit completely, and also private sector are dropping it completely," Frieders said.

Tim Neubert, human resources manager for DeKalb County, said 74 of the 295 people participating in the county's employee insurance coverage were using GLP-1s. He said 40 other intergovernmental personnel benefit cooperative organizations have implemented a similar system with RxSaveCard.

Cost savings are the reason county officials considered the change, officials said.

The county's PPO insurance plan is expected to have a renewal rate of 27.9% in Fiscal 2027, while the HMO insurance plan would have a renewal rate of 20.5%, according to county records.

By removing insurance coverage of GLP-1s for people who are using them for weight loss, the renewal rate for PPO insurance plans would have been 25.7%, and the HMO insurance plan would have had a renewal rate of 17.3%.

DeKalb County Board member Chris Porterfield, a Democrat from District 8, voted against the plan that would have changed how DeKalb County employees who use GLP-1s for weight loss would have been able to get their prescription. He said he could be convinced if he had enough information, but also that he doesn't think the DeKalb County Board is going to fix rising health insurance costs in the U.S.

"My no vote ... is not going to have an impact on curing our insurance and health problems in this county, but I'm sure not going to mess up my own people by being forced to do something that I don't really want to do," Porterfield said.