Launch of the 'Health Management Implementation Coalition ~Starting with Preventive Medicine and Obesity Care~' to Promote Societal Implementation of Preventive Healthcare by Corporations and Health Insurers

Eli Lilly Japan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kobe, Hyogo; President and Representative Director: Carla Alcazar; hereinafter "Eli Lilly Japan"), the M3 Institute established by M3, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Tanimura Masaru; Director: Tokai Minoru), and Minacare Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Kimura Yoshiro) announce the launch of the 'Health Management Implementation Coalition ~Starting with Preventive Medicine and Obesity Care~,' aimed at promoting the societal implementation of preventive healthcare in corporations and health insurance associations.

The coalition will initially focus on obesity care and, in collaboration with participating companies and health insurers, advance the following initiatives:

- Promoting societal understanding of obesity - Accurately identifying employees with obesity within participating companies and health insurers, and encouraging them to seek medical consultation - Collecting and analyzing real-world data obtained through these activities

Obesity is a chronic disease requiring medical treatment, associated not only with reduced quality of life (QOL) but also with increased risks of worsening underlying conditions and other health complications (1).

Through this initiative, the coalition aims to promote health management within corporations and foster an environment in which obesity care becomes a standard, widely practiced societal norm.

The coalition includes Lotte Health Insurance Association, Uchida Yoko Health Insurance Association, Kyushu Electric Power Health Insurance Association, and other corporations and health insurers that recognize the importance of obesity care. The coalition will gradually expand its membership and widely disseminate insights and outcomes to society, aiming to establish a practical model for preventive healthcare that can be implemented nationwide.

1. Background of the Coalition's Launch With national medical expenditures reaching ¥48.915 trillion in 2023 (a record high), a key challenge in healthcare policy is shifting from treatment-centered care to preventive medicine aimed at preventing disease onset and progression.

Meanwhile, while health management initiatives are spreading across companies, systems for continuously identifying employees who need specific health interventions, encouraging appropriate medical consultations, and evaluating post-intervention outcomes remain insufficient. To implement preventive healthcare in society, a foundational structure to support these integrated efforts is essential.

This newly launched coalition positions obesity care as the first step in preventive medicine. Obesity is known to increase the risk of various diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Preventing and improving obesity at an early stage is considered crucial to halting the progression of this 'metabolic domino effect' (2), (3). Moreover, elevated disease risks may ultimately lead to rising medical costs (4).

Given this context, the coalition has designated obesity care as a key theme for advancing the societal implementation of preventive healthcare.

2. Main Initiatives of the Coalition The coalition will promote the societal implementation of preventive healthcare through three core initiatives: 'Public Communication,' 'Social Implementation,' and 'Data Infrastructure Development.'

Public Communication: The coalition will widely disseminate evidence and practical knowledge regarding obesity and preventive medicine. Through dialogue with diverse stakeholders—including corporations, health insurers, and healthcare professionals—it aims to foster accurate public understanding of obesity and build momentum for the societal adoption of preventive healthcare.

Social Implementation: In collaboration with participating health insurers, the coalition will implement medical referral campaigns targeting approximately 10,000 individuals identified with obesity. By consistently carrying out identification, referral, and post-intervention evaluation, and continuously verifying and improving outcomes, the coalition aims to build a highly effective preventive healthcare model applicable to corporations and health insurers.

Data Infrastructure Development: The coalition will utilize intervention data collected through referral campaigns to analyze and visualize health outcomes and economic impacts of obesity care. Additionally, it will provide cross-industry benchmarking for participating health insurers and apply acquired insights to future preventive healthcare initiatives.

3. Significance for Corporations and Health Insurers Medical costs associated with obesity can impact the financial health of corporate health insurance associations. In single-company health insurers, where most enrollees are company employees, employee health directly affects both the insurer’s finances and the company’s health management strategy.

Improving obesity may contribute to extending healthy life expectancy and enhancing QOL by preventing or improving comorbidities (5). For corporations and health insurers, obesity care is expected not only to support employee health maintenance and improvement but also, in the medium to long term, to help suppress rising medical costs.

4. Participating Companies and Health Insurers – Selected Comments The following corporations and health insurers are currently participating in the coalition, with further expansion planned:

※ Below, names in parentheses indicate primary affiliated workplaces

Lotte Health Insurance Association (Lotte Corporation): "Our health insurer recognizes obesity care as a critical issue for maintaining and improving the health of employees and enrollees. We decided to join this initiative to address obesity care, an area where we previously lacked action, through awareness campaigns in our newsletters and early medical intervention programs."

Uchida Yoko Health Insurance Association (Uchida Yoko Co., Ltd.): "We believe obesity care enables outreach to high-risk lifestyle disease populations who have remained 'untouched' by conventional health insurer programs. Additionally, given the growing social attention on obesity, we expect this initiative to enable appropriate awareness-raising among enrollees, and thus we support this effort."

GWA Health Insurance Association (Takamatsu Construction Co., Ltd., Aoki Asunaro Construction Co., Ltd.): "We recognize obesity as an increasingly prominent social issue and are advancing it as a new health management initiative alongside our workplaces. As a health insurer, we aim to reduce the number of future health guidance targets through this program."

Kyushu Electric Power Health Insurance Association (Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.): "Based on our health insurer’s data analysis results, we recognize the importance of implementing obesity care, which is closely linked to lifestyle diseases, as a measure to support employee and enrollee health. We intend to reference initiatives by other companies and insurers as we proceed with our own measures."

5. Comments from Organizers and Medical Experts

Carla Alcazar, President and Representative Director, Eli Lilly Japan Co., Ltd.: "If left untreated, obesity can lead not only to reduced QOL but also to the onset and worsening of various health complications such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, making early diagnosis and intervention essential. We believe corporations and health insurers play a significant role as starting points for prevention in advancing obesity care across society. By contributing our expertise and resources from research, development, and awareness activities in the field of obesity, we aim to support the progress of this coalition."

Dr. Yuichiro Yano, Clinician Data Scientist, Professor, Department of General Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University; Director, AI Incubation Farm Center:

"In today’s era of continuously rising national medical expenditures, the shift from treatment-centered care to 'preventive medicine'—particularly early intervention for obesity, a root cause of lifestyle diseases—is critical from a healthcare economics perspective.