Healthcare is not a partisan issue, and medications to treat patients that inevitably lower the cost for taxpayers should be considered. Medications to treat obesity have been on the market for decades, but due to the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), and the Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D), Medicare will not cover the costs of obesity treatments and potentially life-altering drugs. It’s no surprise either that neither will insurance companies.
Obesity effects 42% of adults in the United States, leading to other chronic conditions, including heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and has also been identified as a risk factor for severe cases of COVID-19 infection and death. Innovative anti-obesity drugs are on the market for people that live with obesity, but not all healthcare plans offer access, and under current law, very few seniors on Medicare can access these drugs.
The high costs that come with obesity amount to $92.1 billion per year for American taxpayers through Medicare and these costs could be greatly reduced if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would allow obesity-treating medications to be included in coverage. The National Taxpayers Union estimates that the U.S. economy spends between $200 and $500 billion each year on obesity-related complications, and this doesn’t include the money Medicare spends. If Congress introduced legislation and CMS were to cover obesity-treating medications, the savings from related complications would far outweigh the costs of the medication.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said that obesity-related conditions are among the leading causes of preventable and premature death. By covering these life-saving medications to treat obesity we will benefit from the related cost reductions in spending towards heart disease, stroke recovery, and type 2 diabetes.
Providing coverage for weight loss drugs would likely lead to effective cost savings in the long run. Most adults will require fewer medical services and lower health care costs by preventing and managing obesity-related conditions. It is in the best interest of all Americans and the health care system to ensure that effective obesity medications are available to all. We need Congressman Jason Smith to utilize his position on the House Ways and Means Committee and ensure that we work to lower healthcare costs and keep Americans healthy.
Ron Fitzwater, CAE, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Missouri Pharmacy Association
