Donald Trump announced a plan on Thursday to reduce the costs of some weight loss drugs for some patients and expand health insurance.
the APPROVAL The oral version of GLP-1S, which is not yet on the market but is expected to be approved in the coming months, will be available for $150 per month for starting doses.
Injectable versions of GLP-1s from drug manufacturers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, announced in the Trump Coverage, and listed on the Trump Public Website for practical prescriptions, to be purchased directly from the manufacturer.
The average price for these injectables will be about $350, which will “spend” to $245 per month for the next two years, the Trump administration said. For those on Medicare, the price will be $245 per month, with patients paying only $50 as a co-pay. State Medicaid programs also have access to rates if they choose.
Trump calls the medications the “fat drug”, his term for these semaglutide or tirzepatide shots, known by their brand names: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Trump previously said that the administration should try to develop glp-1 drugs, which were created to treat diabetes but are now marketed for weight loss for those who want them.
“You think it could be BIDEN? I don’t think so,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday.
While the drugs are called a miracle amid the rise of obesity, they are expensive, running up to those purchased directly from companies that carry monthly costs. Wegegy is $499 per month when purchased directly; Zepbound is $349 for the lowest monthly dose, going up to $499 for the higher dose.
Insurance coverage for medications can be hard to come by, with many advocates not covering obesity medications alone. Some people access the softened versions of the drugs instead of the brand names, which come at a high cost.
In announcing the program, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. designed that the American public will collectively lose 125m pounds by this time next year. “This has huge impacts on human health in this country,” he said.
Because of the price reduction, Medicare will cover weGovy and zepbound for patients with obesity or other conditions for the first time, the Trump administration said. Now, those with only diabetes or certain additional conditions, including heart disease or sleep apnea, can get coverage for Medicare drugs.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, that the plan is focused on drugs to heal within two years due to issues related to obesity.
The move comes as Trump seeks to negotiate the prescription prices of a “best-of-the-best US drug in overseas lines. In a Executive Order In May announcing the plan, the President believed that Americans would often pay “nearly three times more for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same factory”.
The Biden Administration, in its waning days, also sought to make weight loss more affordable, by calling on public health programs and Medicare to fully cover it.