Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans
Americans with obesity would be eligible to have weight-loss drugs covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday.
Millions of Americans with obesity would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning.
The costly proposal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sets the stage for a potential showdown between the powerful pharmaceutical industry and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken opponent of the weight-loss drugs who, as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the agency, could try to block the measure.
While the rule would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some have labeled them miracle drugs, it would cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade.
"It's a good day for anyone who suffers from obesity," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told The Associated Press in an interview. "It's a game changer for Americans who can't afford these drugs otherwise."
I know that I am going to come across as insensitive, but I have to say that this could be done so much less expensively and in a more healthy way.
I really don't want to pay for a drug when people could just eat less. On top of that, the drugs are going to be found to have really bad and costly side effects down the road.
Seems as if no one has learned anything from Covid and the drug companies.