Faced with high demand for GLP-1 drugs, some American cities and states that previously covered the cost of the weight-loss medication for low-income residents and public employees have now started to restrict or eliminate coverage.
The pullback stems from the dramatic increase in public spending on drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy in recent years.
Still, some legislators and healthcare providers argue that dropping coverage of the drugs might provide short-term relief for governments but will ultimately harm Medicaid recipients’ health. They argue that cities and states will then have to pay for more health problems related to obesity.
“Patients should have access to these therapies,” said Dr Matthew Klebanoff, a professor of internal medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine who has studied prior authorization policies for GLP-1 drugs. “It’s just very challenging right now for payers to be able to afford covering these medications for everyone who could benefit.”
It should be noted that they absolutely must be taken under medical supervision. If not taken correctly or in rare cases even when taken correctly they can have very dangerous side effects up to organ failure and death. They’re usually safe but at a minimum during initial usage need to be monitored for side effects.
All that said yes, for people that need these drugs it really sucks that they’re trying to make it harder to get them. It’s pretty telling that they’re targeting programs that primarily benefit the poor for these cuts.
It’s probably worth pointing out as well for people that are unfamiliar with these drugs they are not strictly speaking “weight loss” drugs, rather they’re appetite suppressors. They make you feel less hungry and they also block the reward feedback when you eat so eating food is less “satisfying” which further helps control excess eating. The only dangerous part of these drugs is that they also partially (or rarely fully) paralyze your GI tract which can lead to various complications, particularly if you continue eating at the rate you did prior to starting the drug.