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STAT+: Trump administration declines to expand Medicare coverage for obesity drugs
The Trump administration has chosen not to finalize a rule proposed by the Biden administration that would have allowed Medicare to cover blockbuster weight loss drugs.
The Trump administration has chosen not to finalize a rule proposed by the Biden administration that would have allowed Medicare to cover blockbuster weight loss drugs.
The rule would have brought in tens of billions of dollars in new sales for drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. It also was expected to increase federal spending by $25 billion for Medicare and $15 billion for Medicaid over the next 10 years.
Medicare currently covers these drugs to treat diabetes and to prevent heart complications, but not for weight loss alone because it’s prohibited by law from doing so. The proposal, which Biden introduced at the end of his term last year, would expand coverage of the treatments for weight loss purposes to all people with obesity in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
