Obesity has been called a public health crisis in the United States, and several coalitions are working together to support a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rule that would allow anti-obesity medications to be covered by Medicare and Medicaid. This rule has bipartisan support, but it must be finalized by the Trump administration before it goes into effect.
One of those groups is of the 60 Plus Association. President of the group Saul Anzuzis says he supports this move to have CMS cover the cost of these medications.
A new poll released by the AP shows there is widespread support for using weight-loss drugs to treat obesity. Notably, even more (3 in 4) seniors believe Medicare should cover these medications.
When it comes to ages 12 to 18 who are dealing with obesity, Americans are divided: About one-third say the use of weight-loss drugs in this context is a “very” or “somewhat” good thing, a similar share say it’s a bad thing and about 3 in 10 say it isn’t good or bad,” said the poll.
The American Medical Association supports health insurance companies to cover the drugs. Also, the American Academy of Pediatrics is encouraging doctors to prescribe these medications to kids 12 and older who are struggling with obesity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 100 million adults in the U.S. are obese and currently Medicare doesn’t pay for the cost of prescriptions that would help fight obesity. Under Medicaid, it ranges from state to state.
But recently there has been some positive changes as a few larger companies, with 500 employees or more, are helping with the cost and some states are including Medicaid to add anti-obesity medications programs to off-set the expense.
