Tell Employers: Provide Obesity Care Coverage for Workers

Obesity is a chronic disease with a significant impact on women in many aspects of their lives, including in the workplace. When coverage for obesity care isn't available, patients are left to seek less safe alternatives or forego treatment altogether. But employers are uniquely positioned to support their employees living with obesity.

As a person in the workforce, I know how important health coverage is to making sure I can live the healthiest life possible and thrive—both at work and beyond. That is why I am calling on my employer—and employers everywhere—to embrace the following principles in their workplace healthcare and equity strategies:

1. Recognize obesity as a chronic disease with causes that include those outside of an individual’s control.

2. Review benefits offerings for opportunities to better support obesity care for employees and communicate coverage as a priority to benefits administrators.

3. Work against weight bias at every level of the company and make sure that this is demonstrated through the company’s culture.

Together, we can ensure that everybody living with obesity has coverage for care to protect their health—it’s only fair.