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 […]
October 9, 2024 — For a decade now, we’ve been waiting for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to publish a budget estimate for covering obesity care in Medicare. Yesterday, they finally did it. They told us the cost for covering these meds might start at $1.6 billion in 2026 and rise to $7 billion by 2034. They saw the […]
September 27, 2024 — After a day of a National Obesity Policy Forum at the Top of the Hill in Washington, it was plain that we have witnessed a profound shift in the conversation about policy to address obesity. No more lip service about nudging America to “eat healthy” as the answer to a high prevalence of this disease. […]
June 28, 2024 — With a bipartisan a vote of 36-4 yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee passed an amended version of TROA – the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act. Honestly, after a decade of toiling away to educate legislators about the need for this, we need a pinch to assure ourselves it’s real. This is great news […]
June 27, 2024 — Today for the first time ever, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee will be marking up the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act on Capitol Hill. This is a big deal simply because it means that finally, after a decade of advocacy efforts, Congress is getting serious about obesity care in Medicare. Technically, what the […]
July 26, 2023 — An intense battle is rumbling along in the courts and in the United States Congress and it’s all about drug pricing. The pharmaceutical industry enjoys considerable flexibility in drug prices for the U.S. Because of this, branded, patent-protected drugs are five times more expensive in the U.S. than in other nations with advanced economies. Change […]
March 4, 2022 — For OCW2022 today, the focus is equity in obesity care – specifically for people who rely upon Medicare. Right now, for these people, Medicare has a huge gap in coverage. At one end of the spectrum, it does a fair job of covering bariatric surgery. At the other end of the spectrum, it’s doing a […]
November 19, 2021 — New polling being released today by Morning Consult tells us that Medicare is lagging behind public sentiment on obesity care. Researchers found that 73 percent of the public supports Medicare covering obesity treatment and prevention. What’s more, a similar number (69 percent) says that obesity care should be a top priority for federal healthcare programs. […]
