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 […]
January 12, 2025 — Last week we got another glimpse of incremental progress in coverage for obesity medicines in health insurance plans. CMS announced that Medicare drug plans (Part D or Medicare Advantage) could now cover Zepbound (tirzepatide) when doctors prescribe it to patients for obesity and sleep apnea. This is not the opening of floodgates. It is movement […]
January 9, 2025 — The docket is open for you to lend your support until January 27. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to open up access to obesity medicines in both of the programs they oversee. This is something that we – with virtually every advocate for obesity care – have been seeking for […]
December 21, 2024 — For patients with obesity and sleep apnea, FDA approved a first yesterday. Tirzepatide became the first ever drug with an FDA-approved indication for treating sleep apnea in persons with obesity. The data for this data appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year. Atul Malhotra and colleagues found: “In two trials, the […]
December 16, 2024 — The closing days of 2024 give us a moment to reflect on the stories that defined this year in obesity and health. It’s been a big year, with no shortage of news on this subject. But the major themes stand out very clearly. Health Outcomes Beyond Weight Loss This was the year that objective evidence […]
