President Trump unveiled a deal Thursday with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to expand coverage and reduce prices for their popular obesity treatments Zepbound and Wegovy. Coverage of the drugs for obesity will expand to Medicare patients starting next year, according to the administration, which said some lower prices also will be phased in for patients without coverage, per the AP. Starting doses of new, pill versions of the treatments also will cost $149 a month if they are approved. However, it's not clear how much the price drop will be felt by most consumers. Drug prices can vary based on the competition for treatments and insurance coverage.
The move "will save lives, improve the health of millions and millions of Americans," said Trump, in an Oval Office announcement in which he referred to GLP-1s as a "fat drug." The drugs are part of a new generation of obesity medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists that have soared in popularity in recent years. But access to the drugs has been a consistent problem for patients because of their cost—around $500 a month for higher doses—and insurance coverage has been spotty.
Thursday's announcement is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to rein in soaring drug prices in its efforts to address cost-of-living concerns among voters. Drugmakers Pfizer and AstraZeneca recently agreed to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicaid after an executive order in May set a deadline for drugmakers to electively lower prices or face new limits on what the government will pay.
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"Trump is the friend of the forgotten American," said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at Thursday's announcement. "Obesity is a disease of poverty. And overwhelmingly these drugs have only been available for people who have wealth." Kennedy had previously expressed skepticism to GLP-1s in fighting obesity and diseases related to the condition, but he praised Trump for pushing to help a broader segment of Americans have access to the drug.
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