Medicare protection for weight reduction medication: The push to broaden availability for older People

Novo Nordisk, the maker of the burden loss drug Ozempic, is lobbying to push regulators to incorporate the drug below Medicare protection.

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, a regulation and lobbying agency, was employed final month, based on official lobbying registration kinds, by the pharmaceutical firm to strain policymakers and members of Congress to cowl weight-loss therapies below Medicare.

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Ozempic is roofed below Medicare Half D to deal with kind 2 diabetes, and with out protection, the drug can value round $16,000 for sufferers. Medicare Half D are non-public insurance coverage, and the price of prescribed drugs below Half D varies relying on the customers insurance coverage.

Lobbyists are pushing that by solely offering protection below Medicare Half D, senior residents are being excluded. Senior People usually qualify for Medicare Half A and Half B at 65 years outdated. Over 40% of People over the age of 60 are obese, based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.

Whereas Ozempic is permitted by the Meals and Drug Administration to deal with kind 2 diabetes in adults, the drug has not been cleared for weight reduction. Nevertheless, one other Novo Nordisk product, Wegovy, is the one new drug with FDA approval to deal with weight problems.

Eli Lilly, one other main American pharmaceutical firm, has employed a lot of companies to foyer for the sort 2 diabetes medicine Mounjaro to deal with weight reduction, beginning their effort in 2021. In January, Eli Lilly employed the Todd Technique Group to foyer for the potential protection of Mounjaro below Medicare, based on official data.

Ozempic is a once-a-week injection that may assist folks lose about 12% of physique mass on common, based on a research carried out by medical researchers printed by the Nationwide Library of Drugs. Whereas the drug is proven to be secure and efficient in scientific trials, Ozempic cannot legally be prescribed to deal with weight reduction.

Final yr, Novo Nordisk spent $4.6 million on lobbying efforts for the federal authorities, and the corporate has spent $1.3 within the first three months of 2023, based on data.