Recently, weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have gotten a lot of attention. These drugs are changing the way obesity is managed and how weight loss is treated.
These medicines, which contain the active ingredient semaglutide, were first created to treat type 2 diabetes. They have become popular because they help people lose weight in ways that were not expected. You might be able to get them for free now.
Ozempic and Wegovy hailed as āmiracle drugsā
Social media stars, celebrities, and a lot of media coverage have made the drugs very popular, which has sparked a lot of interest from people who want to find alternatives to traditional ways of dieting and working out.
For many, these medicines give them hope that they can reach their weight loss goals more quickly and effectively. This is especially true for people who have had weight problems their whole lives.
As the need for these drugs grows, so do conversations about how easy they are to get, how much they cost, and how they might affect health in the long term.
Even though weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy might help, their popularity has led to important conversations about body image, weight loss expectations, and the bigger effects of drugs on obesity.
Biden administration reveals plans to get these drugs cost free
A fact sheet from the White House says that about 3.4 million Medicare recipients and 4 million Medicaid recipients would be able to get these medicines under new legislation that the Biden administration wants to pass.
If you do not have insurance, these medicines can cost up to $1,000 a month. Out-of-pocket costs could go down by as much as 95% for some Medicare recipients.
The administration said, “This proposal would let Americans and their doctors figure out the best way forward so they can live healthier lives without worrying about how they will pay for these drugs out of pocket.
This would also lower the cost of health care for everyone in the country.” Medicare is not supposed to pay for weight loss drugs by law, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has said they will change the law to allow coverage for treatment of obesity as a long-term illness.
More than twice as many Medicare recipients (22%) were overweight or obese in 2022 as they were ten years earlier. About 40% of American adults are overweight or obese.
If approved, the expanded coverage will start in 2026, but it will only cover people who have been diagnosed with obesity. It will not cover people who are just overweight.
This new way of looking at coverage would also apply to Medicaid, which means that weight loss drugs for people who are overweight would no longer be denied when they are used to lose weight and keep it off.
According to Meena Seshamani, director of the Center for Medicare, expanding Medicare coverage will cost $25 billion over the next ten years. It will not have any immediate effect on drug plan premiums.
In the same time period, expanding Medicaid will cost the federal government $11 billion and the states $3.8 billion, according to Dan Tsai, who is in charge of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services.
