The American Medical Association is urging insurers to cover the cost of new weight loss medications.
The association's house of delegates voted to adopt a resolution calling on insurers to cover the cost of treatments for obesity, "including FDA-approved medications without exclusions or additional carve-outs," according to a Nov. 14 news release.
"The AMA will urge health insurers to provide coverage of available FDA-approved weight-loss medications, including GLP-1 medications, to demonstrate a commitment to the health and well-being of our patients," AMA trustee Bobby Mukkamala, MD, said in the news release.
GLP-1 drugs, which include Ozempic, Trulicity, Victoza and Mounjaro, are approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, though these drugs are prescribed off-label for weight loss. Wegovy and Saxenda, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lily's Zepbound are approved for weight loss.
The drugs are expensive, costing upward of $10,000 a year without insurance. Federal law bars Medicare from paying for weight loss drugs, while some employers will pay for the cost of weight loss drugs for their employees. Others, including Mayo Clinic and other health systems, have limited or dropped coverage for the drugs due to the high cost. Studies show patients have to take the drugs indefinitely to maintain weight loss.
On an Oct. 13 call with investors, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said prices have to come down for more people to access the drugs. Mr. Witty said patients in the U.S. are paying 10 times more for the drugs than in Western Europe.
"We need the manufacturers to move. It's as simple as that. And we remain extremely open minded to any model that works," Mr. Witty said.
The high cost of drugs can be a "significant access barrier" for patients if their health plan does not cover the cost, the AMA said in its release.
"Providing evidence-based treatment options that include weight loss medications aligns with a comprehensive, multimodal approach to effectively manage obesity is important to reduce health complications," Dr. Mukkamala said.