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Comparison · for employers, health plans and benefits consultants

Levels vs Vida Health

Levels is a metabolic health benefit for your whole population, with a GLP-1 companion program for members on medication, backed by an IRB study of 62,236 members. Vida Health is a virtual clinic for members with obesity, diabetes and related conditions that acts as the sole GLP-1 prescriber, with lifestyle-first step therapy and a stated 16% prescription rate.

Talk with LevelsExplore the evidence

Decide in 20 seconds

A benefit every member can use
Levels
CGM for every member, not only diabetes
Levels
Evidence with cohort sizes published
Levels
Sole prescriber with step therapy built in
Vida

The short answer

Vida controls who gets the drug. Levels changes what happens to everyone, with or without it.

Vida Health enrolls members who clear a BMI or diagnosis threshold into a virtual clinic: weekly visits with a coach or dietitian, therapists for those who need them, and its own physicians as the only prescriber, usually after six months of nutrition therapy first. It reports that 16% of new members get a GLP-1. That's a gate, and gates work until members and clinicians push back on them, as Massachusetts state employees did in 2026. Levels gives every member CGM, labs, food logging and personalized guidance, adds a companion program for anyone on a GLP-1, and publishes the study behind it, limitations included. One decides who qualifies for the drug. The other works on everyone, whether or not they ever take it.

Levels fits when

You want results that outlast the prescription

  • You already cover GLP-1s through your PBM and don't want a second prescriber deciding who qualifies. You want members who finish the year and keep the weight off.
  • You want something the whole population can use, including members who don't clear a diagnosis or a BMI threshold.
  • You want to see the evidence. Ours is a 62,236-member IRB study, and every cohort size is on the page.
  • You want continuous glucose data for every member, not a device unlocked by clinical criteria.

Vida Health fits when

You want one gatekeeper for GLP-1 access

  • You want a single clinical gatekeeper with step therapy built in: six months of nutrition therapy before a prescription is considered, and one prescriber for the plan.
  • Your population is heavily comorbid and you want prescribing, dietitians and licensed therapists from one vendor, in English and Spanish, in all 50 states.
  • You don't cover GLP-1s at all and want a defined monthly contribution toward cash-pay medication, with clinical oversight, that stays off your formulary.
  • You want up to 100% of fees at risk and can live with per-account, undisclosed pricing.

At a glance

What each one hands you.

Functionality first, price last. Vida entries come from their own public materials, and we say so where they publish nothing. Levels entries come from the study behind the program.

Who it covers

Levels
Every member. A wellness benefit for the whole population, plus a companion program for anyone on a GLP-1.
Vida Health
Members with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, MASH or a behavioral health need who clear your plan's criteria. BMI thresholds of 30, or 27 with a condition, in its state-plan deployment.

Devices and data

Levels
CGM, lab panels, food logging, and sleep and activity from the member's own wearables, in the Levels app
Vida Health
Connected scale, glucometer, BP cuff, pulse oximeter and CGM, free after a first coach visit "if you meet Vida clinical criteria." CGM is framed for diabetes. Oura Ring where the plan covers it. Photo food logging.

Care team

Levels
Guidance from the care team, turned into next steps in the app. GLP-1 members also get side-effect support.
Vida Health
Weekly virtual visits with a coach or dietitian, licensed therapists, and obesity-medicine physicians and advanced practitioners. English and Spanish.

GLP-1 approach

Levels
A companion program that runs alongside your existing coverage, from first dose through discontinuation. Education, nutrition and movement support, plus side-effect guidance.
Vida Health
Lifestyle first. State-plan members without a recent prescription do six months of nutrition therapy before medication is assessed. Reports 16% of new members get a GLP-1 (n>18,000). Deprescribing criteria cited, no protocol or regain data published.

Who prescribes

Levels
Your PBM and your members' clinicians. Levels doesn't prescribe or manage medication.
Vida Health
Vida's own physicians and advanced practitioners, as the plan's sole prescriber.

Published evidence

Levels
IRB-approved longitudinal study: 62,236 consented members, 1.15B glucose readings across 3.5 years. Cohort sizes and limitations published.
Vida Health
Three peer-reviewed, retrospective, Vida-authored studies on diabetes and coaching (n=763, 258 and 1,128), all before its GLP-1 program. No peer-reviewed obesity or GLP-1 publication found.

Biomarker outcomes

Levels
Among members who started out of range: 81% improved HbA1c (n=894), 79% fasting insulin (n=164), 84% triglycerides (n=370). Observational, no control arm.
Vida Health
HbA1c down 1.9 points at four months among diabetics starting above 9% (n=1,128). 7 to 15% weight loss "depending on care plan." Weight figures are internal Vida data.

Below GLP-1 thresholds

Levels
At one year, 22% of members starting at BMI 30+ (n=1,102) and 33% starting at BMI 27+ with a risk factor (n=948) fell below prescribing thresholds
Vida Health
15% weight loss at 18 months on a GLP-1, 8 to 10% on alternatives, from Vida's outcomes page. No BMI-threshold figure published.

Independent validation

Levels
IRB-approved design, clinical review by Robert Lustig, MD. Not yet independently validated.
Vida Health
Validation Institute validated its diabetes and mental health programs in 2021, before the GLP-1 program. DiMe Seal in 2026. No independent review of the obesity or GLP-1 outcomes found.

Security and privacy

Levels
HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 2, independently assessed
Vida Health
HITRUST certified, per its site. No SOC 2 attestation found.

Reporting to you

Levels
GLP-1 eligibility, participation and spend in one view, with participation reporting you can act on at renewal
Vida Health
Not described publicly. Savings cited to employers ($2,040 per engaged member per year, up to 2:1 ROI) are internal estimates that "may vary."

Financial model

Levels
Not published. Scoped to your population in consultation. No outcomes guarantee published.
Vida Health
Up to 100% of fees at risk on clinical and engagement outcomes. No public price. A Self-Pay model sets an employer contribution toward cash-pay drugs that stays off your formulary.

Vida Health entries come from vida.com and its programs, outcomes, devices, employer and consultant pages, plus public state-plan documents, read September 2026. They describe what Vida publishes. Where they publish nothing we say "not published" rather than claim the product can't do it. Vida's prescription-rate, weight and savings figures are its own reporting. Levels figures come from our IRB-approved study at levels.com/pro/outcomes, which is observational, participant-funded and has no control arm. The cohort size sits next to every number. If a row is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

What it costs

Where the money goes, and who carries the risk.

Neither company publishes employer pricing. Vida's is value-based, with up to all of the fee at risk. What you can compare is the shape of the deal: who it covers, what the fee rides on, and what each vendor's own numbers say about reach.

Levels · population benefit

62,236

consented members in the study behind the program. 1.15B glucose readings across 3.5 years.

  • One benefit for the whole population, with the GLP-1 companion program included for anyone on medication, at whatever coverage level you set.
  • Works with the prescribers and PBM you already have. No second clinic, no medication decisions handed to a vendor.
  • Pricing is scoped to your population in consultation. The study is public before you ask.

Vida Health · up to 100% at risk

Not published

for the fee. Savings claims are internal estimates.

  • Fees ride on clinical and engagement outcomes for members who clear the gate. The 16% prescription rate is the cost lever, and it depends on members accepting six months of step therapy.
  • $2,040 in annual savings per engaged member and "up to $550 a month" avoided per member with obesity, from Vida's own pages, footnoted as estimates that may vary.
  • A defined-contribution Self-Pay option, so the vendor deciding who qualifies for a drug is also the one routing members to buy it with cash.

The bill you already pay

Half of it stops early.

About half of members stop GLP-1 therapy within the first year, and most of the lost weight comes back. That's from the Peterson Health Technology Institute's December 2025 report and the STEP 1 trial extension, not from us. Careful prescribing changes who starts. Changing daily behavior changes who finishes, and what's left a year after the last dose.

Being fair

Where Vida Health is the better call.

Three situations where we wouldn't recommend Levels over Vida Health. Better you hear it here than mid-RFP.

You want one gatekeeper.

If your strategy is a single prescriber with step therapy in front of every GLP-1, Vida has run exactly that for a state plan and for Quantum Health clients. Levels doesn't prescribe or decide eligibility.

You need therapists and dietitians in one contract.

Vida bundles obesity medicine, medical nutrition therapy and licensed behavioral health, in English and Spanish, with its strongest peer-reviewed results in diabetes and depression. Levels is a metabolic health benefit, not a multi-condition clinic.

You want an off-formulary option.

If you don't cover GLP-1s, Vida's Self-Pay model lets you set a monthly contribution toward cash-pay medication under clinical oversight. Levels works with the coverage you have and doesn't broker the drug.

If one of those is you, take the Vida meeting, and ask what happened in Massachusetts. Come back when you want something the whole population can use, and a study your consultant can pull apart.

Working alongside

You can run both. Many populations should.

Vida is scoped to members who clear a diagnosis and its step therapy. Levels is scoped to everyone. Nothing here asks you to cancel a clinical program. The open question is what the rest of your population gets, and what happens to GLP-1 members once they stop.

  1. 01

    Start with the members Vida doesn't cover

    Launch the Levels wellness benefit to all eligible members. Anyone enrolled in a clinical program stays exactly where they are.

  2. 02

    Wrap the GLP-1 members you already pay for

    Add the companion program alongside your PBM coverage, from first dose through discontinuation. Every member gets a CGM, not only those who meet a device criterion.

  3. 03

    Read the participation report at renewal

    Eligibility, participation and spend in one view. Decide on your own numbers.

Questions we get

Four straight answers.

Is Levels a replacement for Vida Health?
Not one for one. Vida is a virtual clinic that prescribes and gates access. Levels is a population benefit that works with the prescribers you have. Many employers need the second even if they buy the first, because Vida covers members who clear its criteria and Levels covers everyone.
Does Levels prescribe GLP-1s?
No. Your PBM and your members' clinicians do. Levels works before medication, with CGM, labs and guidance, and alongside it, with nutrition, movement and side-effect support. The point is what's still true a year after the last dose.
How does the evidence compare?
Ours is an IRB-approved longitudinal study of 62,236 consented members and 1.15 billion glucose readings over 3.5 years. Cohort sizes, methods and limitations are at levels.com/pro/outcomes. Vida's peer-reviewed work is three retrospective diabetes and coaching studies from before its GLP-1 program. Its 16% prescription rate and weight figures are internal, with no methodology published. Read both.
What does Vida Health cost?
They don't publish it. Pricing is value-based and negotiated per account, with up to 100% of fees at risk. Vida cites $2,040 in annual savings per engaged member and up to $550 a month avoided per member with obesity. Both are its own estimates. Ask how "engaged" is defined and what the step-therapy requirement does to enrollment.

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