A third (33 per cent) of U.S. employers currently include cell and gene therapies in their benefits plans and 36 per cent are actively evaluating the use of these treatments, according to a new survey by the Integrated Benefits Institute.

The survey, which polled more than 400 U.S. employers and more than 200 benefits consultants, found 91 per cent of employers recognize the lifesaving potential of cell and gene therapy to avert costly long-term interventions and 90 per cent link these therapies to enhanced employee productivity. Organizations with high revenue and stop-loss coverage (72 per cent) were more likely to adopt cell and gene therapies than small organizations without stop-loss coverage (28 per cent).

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Among consultants, 80 per cent expressed the need for better information regarding the benefits of cell and gene therapies. More than two-thirds (69 per cent) identified cost amortization as essential for adoption and 59 per cent reported their clients are hesitant to embrace these benefits.

“There is a strong relationship between organizational readiness and the adoption of these innovative therapies,” said Dr. Sera-Leigh Ghouralal, senior researcher at IBI, in a press release. “Organizations with robust stop-loss coverage and ethical frameworks are over twice as likely to implement [cell and gene therapy] benefits. Our findings also suggest that enhancing knowledge about [cell and gene therapies] is crucial for improving access to these potentially life-saving treatments.”

The survey also found the majority (87 per cent) of organizations reported providing glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist medication coverage to varying degrees: 35 per cent covered these use of these medications for diabetes only, 29 per cent offered comprehensive coverage across all conditions and 23 per cent included obesity care and cardiovascular risk reduction.

Among the 11.7 per cent of organizations that don’t currently cover GLP-1s, 47 per cent said they had no plans to include it, while 43 per cent said they plan to implement coverage within 12 to 24 months.

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