Long-Term Health Care Utilization Costs of GLP-1RA Use vs Bariatric Metabolic Surgery
Main finding · Monthly follow-up health care costsResult — go to the resultAdjusted difference-in-differences $109.0 monthly costs per patientAuthors' conclusion
This cohort study found that, among adults with obesity and diabetes, health care utilization costs were higher with GLP-1RA treatment than with BMS, excluding intervention costs, largely reflecting differences in early clinical trajectories.
Study context
- Population
- Adults (aged ≥24 years) with obesity (BMI ≥30) and diabetes, first bariatric metabolic surgery (BMS) or GLP-1 RA initiation 2010–2022, Clalit Health Services, Israel; mean age 51 years, 59.6% women, mean BMI 40.5
- Participants
- 5,442 adults2,721 matched pairs
- Exposure
- GLP-1 RA treatment vs BMS
- GLP-1RAn = 2,721
- BMSn = 2,721reference
- Outcome
- Health care utilization costs incurred by the health system, excluding costs of the index interventions; attributable costs by difference-in-differences, multivariable linear regression
- Follow-up
- Up to 12.5 years (mean [SD], 6.5 [3.5] years)
Methodological detailsobservational, propensity score matched
- Observational
- Propensity score matched
Main finding
Monthly follow-up health care costs
Adjusted difference-in-differences
$109.0 monthly costs per patient
P < 0.001
By group
GLP-1RAs
$415.3
mean · SD $746.7
BMS
$304.9
mean · SD $628.5
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Adjusted difference-in-differences | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Hospitalization costs (component of adjusted monthly cost difference)GLP-1RAs vs BMS · SE = $13.3 | $43.9 | P = 0.001 |
| Non-GLP-1 medication costs (component of adjusted monthly cost difference)GLP-1RAs vs BMS · SE = $4.4 | $52.5 | P < 0.001 |
Timing of cost differences
- Most cost differences accrued within the first 4 years
BMI and HbA1c
- BMS associated with greater early reductions in BMI and HbA1c; GLP-1 RA showed more modest but sustained effects
Original publication
Long-Term Health Care Utilization Costs of GLP-1RA Use vs Bariatric Metabolic Surgery. JAMA Netw Open. Published 1 July 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →