Millions of Americans fighting obesity faced a setback last month when the Trump administration declined to allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover popular weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last month rejected a proposal from the Biden administration that would have required Medicare and Medicaid to cover the drugs. According to The New York Times, the most popular of the drugs are Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, and Zepbound, made by Eli Lilly.

The drugs for diabetes are manufactured under the names Ozempic and Mounjaro. Medicare covers the medications for diabetic patients, as well as a small subset who are obese and have a heart condition or sleep apnea.

State Medicaid programs have the choice of whether or not to cover GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of obesity. As of August 2024, Medicaid programs in 13 states do so.

The Biden-era proposal would have made the drugs much more affordable for those Medicare and Medicaid patients with obesity who do not have those illnesses, the Times reported. Medicare........

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