At the end of last week, the CMS of the Trump administration announced that it is not completing a disposition proposed by the Biden administration that would expand the coverage of the medications against obesity under Medicare and Medicid.
Currently, Medicare and Medicaid is required to cover the LPG-1 such as Ozempic and Wogovy for conditions such as diabetes, but is prohibited from Medicaning them to cover them for weight loss and state programs of Medicaid do. The proposed rule published in November would also have expanded coverage to obesity.
The Trump administration decision left some disappointed medical care leaders, including Millicent Gorham, CEO of the Women’s Health and Prevention Alliance, a women’s health defense organization. Last year, the organization launched a campaign called Everybody Cubt, whose objective is to expand the coverage of obesity attention.
“We are deeply disappointed by CMS’s decision not to finish the proposed rule to expand the coverage of medications for obesity management under part D and Medicaid of Medicare,” Gorham said in a statement. “Obesity is a chronic, but treatable disease, which has a significant impact on Americans, and participating in American women, through their lives. This change would have a bone transformation for the millions of people who live the wand, and the PRD have helped lessons of the other 200 health complications associated with the disease.”
A Health Life Executive argued that this decision not to cover the medications for weight loss for obesity shows that there is more work to do when recognizing obesity as a “weakening disease.” Health life is a digital company that treats chronic conditions.
“When the person in charge was prescribed and includes in a broader program that addresses nutrition and lifestyle, thesis measurements play a fundamental role in weight loss and the management of chronic conditions,” said Veeneta Lakhani, main strategy and development, in EM -Vida. “This decision limits access to LPG-1 for many patients who would benefit, which promotes health disparities and inequality in obesity care.”
Another medical attention executive said that LPG-1 are covered for comorbidities associated with obesity, such as sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease, but not for the root cause itself. She argues that these medications should be covered for obesity, as well as these comorbidities.
“We need to begin to supply obesity as severe chronic disease that is, instead of hiring the secondary diseases that are brought. -Toy.
Currently, more than 42% of adults in the United States have obesity. Without insurance, the cost of weight loss drugs can vary from a few hundred dollars to $ 1,500 per month.
CMS may reconsider the thesis drug cover in the future, according to a blog post of the Medicare policy initiative. It also has other proposals to expand coverage or measurements against obesity, including bills in Congress. However, it is worth noting that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has been critical of the drugs to lose weight in the past and, on the other hand, has emphasized the importance of changes in lifestyle.
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