GLP-1 use reaches record high as access appears easier 

GLP-1 use reaches record high as access appears easier 

New data released this week found that a record number of Americans are taking a GLP-1 medication for weight loss. 

© AP Photo/David J. Phillip

According to a new Gallup survey released Tuesday, 11 percent of Americans say they’re currently taking a GLP-1, a noticeable jump from the 3 percent who said the same in 2024. 

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had taken the medicine for weight loss at some point, an increase of 9 percentage points.  

Those findings show the scale of the GLP-1 market boom, even as questions remain about how easy it is to access the drugs — for those who can afford them.  

Costs have decreased due to competition from when GLP-1s first hit the market, but paying out of pocket for Wegvoy and Zepbound can cost patients close to $500 a month. It’s a steep price, and private insurance coverage remains inconsistent at best.  

On the public side, the Trump administration this month launched a temporary program to cover GLP-1 drugs for some Medicare patients for just $50 a month. Medicare is otherwise prohibited from covering the drugs for obesity, so the move opens GLP-1s to a whole new category of patients.  

KFF estimated close to 4 million beneficiaries would be newly eligible for the program; the Trump administration has not publicly released its own estimates.  

Meanwhile, a secret-shopper study published in JAMA found GLP-1 drugs can be obtained online with little to no clinical oversight. 

Of the 49 websites included in the study, only 13 required a video call, while three required a phone call. Researchers used a fake patient profile to obtain the........

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