Breaking: Biden Proposes Opening Medicare to Obesity Meds
Well, this is exciting. The news just flashed across our screen that the outgoing Biden administration is proposing to open up Medicare and Medicaid to coverage for obesity meds. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services, said:
“We don’t want to see people having to wait until they have these additional diseases before they get treatment.
“Everybody deserves access. The more friction there is in the system – the more hoops you have to meet, all these characteristics – the harder it is for people to get the care they need.”
The proposal to do this simply sidesteps the prohibition on covering drugs for weight loss. It specifies that these drugs would be covered to treat the disease of obesity and prevent its complications.
“Game Changing”
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra called this a game changing decision that reflects a new understanding that obesity is a complex, chronic disease:
“It helps us recognize that obesity is with us. It’s severe, it’s damaging our country’s health, it’s damaging our economy.”
OAC President Joe Nadglowski told us:
“This is something we’ve been working toward for more than a decade. It will likely be a popular move because most Americans agree it is necessary.”
We will resist the impulse to shout hallelujah simply because it will take time. If it becomes policy, it will accrue to the credit of the incoming Trump administration. But the proposed HHS Secretary, RFK Jr, seems to believe that obesity can be made to disappear simply by making everyone eat healthy.
Regardless, the proposal to bring obesity care into Medicare and Medicaid is a big step forward. Now comes the hard part.
Click here and here for more reporting on this big news, here for a statement from the White House.
First Lady Jill Biden Boards Bright Star, Official White House Photo by Erin Scott / flickr
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November 26, 2024
