United States: The Biden administration has presented a plan that would add Medicare and Medicaid benefit categories for obesity treatments and ways to lose weight like Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro. On Tuesday, a new guideline was laid, which has greatly enhanced the availability of these drugs, which were earlier reimbursable only for diseases such as diabetes.
Cutting Costs for Millions
Today, weight loss medications cost over one thousand dollars for a 30 day prescription which puts financial strain on many people. The new rule would decrease the co-payment for the 3.4 million Medicare patients and additional 4 million Medicaid patients who would now be eligible for these treatments.
Currently, more than 40 percent of all Americans are considered obese which is a definite factor for illnesses like heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, and particular types of cancer. The increased coverage is expected to help hinder these problems through making the drugs used in weight loss plans more affordable to the patients.
New evidence reveals that there are major races in the recommendation of weight loss drugs currently. In 2023, 85% of the semaglutide prescriptions were dispensed to white patients while low- and middle-income and minority populations struggle to afford expensive medication. Moreover, it may reduce disparities between database-Medical beneficiaries via widening coverage to Medicare and Medicaid clients.
Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans https://t.co/KfMGiPJeGU
— Marcia S Newman (@marciasgreen) November 26, 2024
Workplace Health Challenges
With such drugs gaining common practice in the market, employers are now considering the economics on the part of them to extend coverage for such medicines. A recent survey suggested that less than 20% of large organizations have provided weight loss drugs in their health insurance programs and this is a new trend at the workplace.
Innovations in GLP-1 Drugs
Wegovy and other GLP-1 based weight loss medications work by mimicking hormones that have effects on the blood sugar and metabolism. Other than for the purpose of weight loss, research has extended to its use in the case of conditions like alcoholism and sleep apnea, making its place in the health industry even more secure.