Despite the growing prevalence and impact of obesity in America, it took Medicare over 40 years to cover bariatric surgery, one of the first treatments for the disease. The decades-long delay in providing coverage for bariatric surgery in Medicare meant that an entire generation of Americans died from obesity-related diseases while waiting for access to life-saving treatment.

Let’s not do the same for obesity medications.

In the early 2000s, though not a Medicare beneficiary at the time, my own successful gastric band surgery inspired me to march on Capitol Hill and fight for American seniors’ right to access bariatric surgery. Now, twenty years later, I am in the shoes of those I marched for: living with obesity and without access to the most effective treatments on the market for the chronic disease. It is past time for federal policymakers to ensure that all Americans, especially those on Medicare like me, can access safe and effective FDA-approved treatments for obesity.

So much has changed since I walked in the halls of Congress two decades ago. After 20 years, I had my gastric band removed due to medical complications and quickly regained the weight it had helped me lose. I know that I am not alone in this. The prevalence of obesity for American adults has increased by over 10 percent in the past two decades and is expected to surpass 50 percent in the next........

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