Embla is a fully managed weight care carve-out for self-funded employers. Coaching comes first. Independent licensed clinicians keep medication at the lowest effective dose. Your client pays one fixed fee per engaged member, medication included, with no plan integration.
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Employees are asking, so your client is asking you. Covering it opens a pharmacy line with no ceiling. Excluding it makes the benefits package harder to defend with candidates and staff.
Plenty of employers already covered GLP-1s through the PBM, with no coaching around the drug. Doses climbed, spend climbed and nobody owned the outcome. Now any new vendor starts with a trust problem.
Your clients already run a long list of point solutions, and you already field the vendor calls. Anything new has to be simple to launch, easy to explain and easy to defend.
median projected health care cost trend for 2026, before plan design changes
of employers are seeing more members use obesity medications, and another 15% expect to
are changing or running an RFP for health and well-being vendors
Source: Business Group on Health, 2026 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey (121 large employers).
Weight is complicated because people are. Biology, sleep, stress, habits and relationships all play a part. Embla starts there, with 1:1 coaching, and treats medication as one tool rather than the plan.
See the coaching model →Every member meets a health coach before anything else. Members who don't need medication stay in EmblaThrive, coaching only.
When medication is appropriate, independent licensed clinicians prescribe it at the lowest effective dose through EmblaThriveMD.
Structured tapering begins at month 16 and runs over 12 weeks. Embla Embrace then helps members keep their results.
Coaches, clinicians, nurses, pharmacy and support on one platform, with one member record.
"I appreciate the order of operations there. Most people rush to the drug and then surround that with coaching. The coaching happens first, and I would say you're probably likely screening some people away from getting on a GLP-1."
The first round failed for predictable reasons: no coaching, doses that only went up and no exit plan. Embla changes who carries the risk.
Medication sits inside one fixed fee per engaged member. If doses go up, Embla absorbs it, not your client.
Your client pays only for engaged members, so the cost follows real use, not eligibility.
Structured tapering is built into the program and begins at month 16. Open-ended coverage has no off-ramp.
A true carve-out. No plan integration, and the medical plan and PBM stay exactly as they are.
The TRIM study followed 2,694 Embla members for 64 weeks. Standard semaglutide titration steps up to 2.4 mg a week. Embla members averaged about 1.08 mg, less than half the standard maximum.
average weight loss over 64 weeks
less GLP-1 medication
of members tapered or stopped GLP-1s
TRIM study: Seier et al., Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 2025 (n=2,694). TRIM is Embla's own peer-reviewed research. Dosing decisions are made by each member's independent licensed clinician. Individual results vary.
Ten months after launch, here is what changed for a self-funded client.
Over 70% lower GLP-1 costs. 69% less medication. 85% engagement, 97% member satisfaction and break-even in year one.
Results from one self-funded employer over ten months. Not representative of all clients.
"I originally thought having to speak with a coach would be inconvenient and not very helpful. But I've been pleasantly surprised."
"The program has given me practical tools and encouragement to focus on healthier habits in a way that feels realistic and sustainable."
"I am so incredibly thankful that my employer provides us with the option to join Embla."
Shared by members of an Embla client. Individual experiences vary.
Excess weight sits upstream of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and joint pain. Most benefits stacks add a separate vendor for each of those. Embla works on the cause, with coaching first and medication only when a clinician finds it appropriate.
Get the trunk right and some of the branches stop needing their own vendor. That gives you a sharper question at every renewal: which point solutions are treating the same root cause?
of members with a BMI of 40 or higher moved out of that category
fewer side effects
member engagement
Results from one self-funded employer over ten months. Not representative of all clients.
Fully managed by Embla, live in 7 days, with minimal lift for you or the HR team.
GLP-1s for weight loss run through Embla instead of the PBM. No plan redesign, no carrier negotiation.
Your client sends an eligibility file. Embla handles setup and launch materials, including emails, postcards and QR codes that send employees to a dedicated enrollment page.
Employees already taking a GLP-1 for weight loss move into Embla, where an independent licensed clinician evaluates their treatment.
Clients can make GLP-1 coverage conditional on staying in the program, a guardrail more employers are adding.
Predictable for your client, easy for you to defend in a renewal meeting.
One fixed fee per engaged member covers coaching, clinical care through independent licensed clinicians, and medication. Embla carries the medication risk.
Because medication sits inside the fee, Embla is paid to keep doses at the lowest effective level and to taper. Open-ended coverage rewards the opposite.
Embla cuts GLP-1 costs by up to half, based on the dose data in the published TRIM study. Clients pay only for employees who actively use the program.
Forward it as is, or use it to build your own recommendation.
Costs, medication use, engagement and satisfaction from a self-funded client.
Get the case study →2,694 members, 64 weeks, published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
Read the study →Straight answers, so nothing catches you off guard in the meeting.
Ask us anything else →No. Embla is a carve-out for weight care. The medical plan and PBM stay as they are, and GLP-1s for weight loss run through Embla.
Weight loss carve-outs are straightforward for self-funded plans. Some PBM contracts restrict carve-outs for diabetes medication, so we review the contract with you before launch.
No. EmblaThrive is coaching only. Medication is prescribed only when an independent licensed clinician finds it appropriate.
Tapering is structured, begins at month 16 and is supported by coaching. Embla Embrace helps members keep their results afterwards.
No, and we say so up front. TRIM is Embla's own study, peer-reviewed and published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism in 2025.
One fixed fee per engaged member, medication included. Clients can also tie GLP-1 coverage to program participation, so spend follows real engagement.
Tell us which clients are asking about GLP-1 coverage. We'll show you how Embla fits their plan, what it costs and what launch looks like.
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