BOSTON — Mayor Michelle Wu has struck a deal with city employee unions to limit coverage of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, a move the administration says will save Boston roughly $10.6 million as healthcare costs continue to spiral.

The agreement comes after weeks of tense negotiations. The Wu administration had initially issued what unions described as an "ultimatum" — limit GLP-1 coverage or face significant increases in employee premiums. The Public Employee Committee, which bargains health insurance benefits on behalf of city unions, pushed back publicly before ultimately reaching the deal.

The city will now limit — but not eliminate — coverage of the blockbuster weight loss medications for its workforce.

Chief Financial Officer Ashley Groffenberger had warned the Boston City Council that the city faced "significant increases in employee premiums and health insurance costs" driven in large part by the surge in GLP-1 prescriptions.

The deal mirrors a broader statewide trend. The Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission voted in February to eliminate GLP-1 obesity coverage entirely amid its own budget crisis. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts stopped covering the drugs for weight loss in April 2025.

GLP-1 medications, originally developed for diabetes, have exploded in popularity as weight loss drugs. Ozempic and Wegovy, both made by Novo Nordisk, can cost more than $1,000 per month without insurance. The drugs have become a cultural phenomenon — and a budget nightmare for employers and insurers across the country.

To Wu's credit, pushing back on a $10.6 million line item in a city budget under pressure is the kind of fiscal discipline Boston rarely sees from City Hall. Cutting spending — even popular spending — is the right move when the bill is unsustainable.

Whether city employees who have come to rely on the medications see it the same way remains to be seen.