Posts Tagged ‘drug pricing’

For decades, the way Americans get prescription drugs has followed a rigid and opaque path. Drugmakers sell to wholesalers. Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate rebates. Insurers design formularies. Employers buy coverage. Patients hope the drug they need makes it through the maze. But obesity medicines are starting to shake that system. A Different Option for Employers […]

The twisted relationship of Hims and Novo Nordisk took another sharp turn this week. Novo withdrew its patent infringement lawsuit against Hims & Hers – barely a month after filing the suit. The company is now crowing about selling its Ozempic and Wegovy products through “leading telehealth providers” like Hims. But they “reserve the right […]

It would be hard to find a sharper contrast than the one displayed yesterday in the report of fourth quarter 2025 business results for Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Lilly is enjoying the best of times. Novo is suffering the worst. “Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 growth is only getting started,” says CNBC, “as Novo Nordisk braces […]

Right now, we are witnessing a great withdrawal from healthcare, especially for people living with obesity. Many people are losing health insurance coverage altogether because it has become unaffordable. Many others are finding that their insurance will no longer pay for the care they need – if they want the care, they must have the […]

This year is quickly winding down and with it, some unpleasant memories may, thankfully, fade. But for our interest in obesity and health, 2025 has been a very eventful year of progress, with five milestones that are particular standouts. So let’s pause and celebrate this progress. 1. Global Embrace of Obesity Care Perhaps the biggest […]

Americans are only barely aware of the role that pharmacy benefit managers play in health insurance. But what they do know is not good. To the extent that most people know anything about these shadowy players in health insurance, they know PBMs control which drugs they can get, how much hassle it is to get […]

President Trump held a press event yesterday to issue some very welcome news on coverage and prices for obesity medicines. On prices, they are coming down. In reality, this is an extension of the ongoing trend of downward pressure on these prices that has been in play since the day that semaglutide and tirzepatide launched […]

It’s entertaining, but not really funny. At an Oval Office press event Thursday, which was supposed to be all about fertility drugs, President Trump opened his remarks talking about “a certain drug” that costs $130 in London and $1,300 in New York. “So now we’re going to be paying, instead of $1,300, you’ll be paying […]

Back in March 2024, we welcomed the news of a door opening ever so slightly for Medicare Part D plans to cover GLP-1s in people with obesity and heart disease. So 18 months later, it’s reasonable to ask, how’s that working out for everyone? A new research letter in JAMA gives us an answer, but […]

It’s almost funny. Except it’s not. This is deadly serious for people whose entire lives are shaped by obesity – people who need better access to care. The influential Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) issued a new draft report on the cost effectiveness of semaglutide and tirzepatide. In a nutshell, the report says […]