November 7, 2025 — 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 […]
September 28, 2025 — 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 […]
August 2, 2025 — When the new administration announced in April that it would not be implementing expanded access to obesity medicines in Medicare, they suggested this would not be the final word. Yesterday, we got a hint of what might come. Paige Winfield Cunningham reported in the Washington Post that CMS has drafted a plan to allow Medicare […]
July 23, 2025 — This week in Washington, DC, advocates for persons living with obesity from all over America will come together to speak with their elected representative about the reintroduction of the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) in both the U.S. Senate and House. This is an important, bipartisan effort to address the harm of obesity to […]
April 9, 2025 — As everyone digests the news that CMS has chosen not to expand coverage of obesity medicines under Medicare and Medicaid “at this time,” it is becoming clear the door is not closed. HHS told Bndpoints News: “CMS may consider future policy options for obesity medications pending further review of both the potential benefits of these […]
March 27, 2025 — Yesterday in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the University of Michigan published a finding that older Americans say Medicare should indeed cover obesity medicines. Authors Lauren Oshman and colleagues present straightforward conclusions: “In this survey study of older US adults, most participants agreed that Medicare should cover weight management medications and more than half of […]
February 20, 2025 — A new study of public opinion released today finds overwhelming support for access to obesity medicines in Medicare. In this polling, 79% of Republicans, 66% of independents, and 73% of Democrats support the Trump administration taking final action to provide coverage for these medicines under Medicare, just like medicines for any other chronic condition. Given […]
February 2, 2025 — On Friday, the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research documented a remarkable reversal in attitudes about obesity medicines. Roughly half of the public believes “it’s a good idea” to use obesity medicines for obesity or weight-related health conditions. Likewise, most Americans believe Medicare and Medicaid should cover the use of these drugs. Only about 20% […]
January 16, 2025 — This will be an interesting year for drug pricing, especially for obesity medicines – if you can even figure out what is really going on with them. It appears that list prices for Ozempic (semaglutide), Mounjaro (tirzepatide), and Zepbound (also tirzepatide) have all gone up this year. The Wegovy (semaglutide) list price did not change. […]
January 13, 2025 — Many years of working on obesity has taught us one thing. Success does not come easily. And yet in this new year, it appears that the new administration in Washington will have an opportunity to claim an easy win on obesity. CMS has a new rule for obesity drugs that can become final in the […]
