price wiggs Will soon be covered by Medicare, according to announcement from the federal Seniors Health Insurance Program Thursday.While this is good news for people over 65 who want to get the drug, the drug is Help lose weight, there’s just one problem. Medicare will only pay if the patient has an underlying serious heart problem.
Wegovy is the brand name for Novo Nordisk’s anti-obesity drug semaglutide, which was first approved in the United States in 2021. ozoneThe drug, also made by Novo Nordisk, has become a popular product among people trying to lose weight. But Wegovy can cost more than $1,300 per month, making it prohibitively expensive for many Americans.
A major trial finds Wegovy can reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes last summerpaving the way for the FDA to authorize doctors to prescribe drugs for this purpose earlier this month.
A spokesman for Denmark-based Novo Nordisk told Gizmodo on Thursday that the company is encouraged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new guidance, but stressed that obesity is a problem in its own right when the government offers such financial help. .
“Wegovy is the only weight management drug approved to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients who are obese or overweight with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. But there is more work to be done for long-term weight management obesity drugs are still not covered under Part D,” the Novo Nordisk person wrote.
The Inflation Lowering Act of 2022 includes a series of new provisions to help Medicare beneficiaries, including a $3,000 cap on prescription drug costs that takes effect this year.This change will help 1 million seniors They cover the cost of expensive medications commonly used by cancer patients.
But even with positive changes like the Inflation Reduction Act, drug costs in the United States remain prohibitively high compared to other countries. These improvements help those on Medicare, with the cost borne by taxpayers rather than through negotiations for lower prices that are often reached with peer states. In 2003, Medicare was banned from negotiating prices for most drugs, a disastrous law that is now being slowly repealed by legislation championed by Democrats and President Joe Biden.
The Associated Press points out that there is a fierce debate over whether Medicare should cover anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy, often because it is unclear whether the high price paid by the government will be offset by falling drug costs. Treat obesity.
“We will continue to advocate for policies that make obesity medications available to the many patients who are not yet insured,” Novo Nordisk told Gizmodo. “Collaboration across the healthcare system is key to education and expanding coverage of obesity medications.”