Medicare will cover medications for weight weight such as Ozempic and Wegovy

Popular drugs to lose weight and for diabetes such as Ozempic and Wegovy They have been added to the Medicare drug list which will be negotiated directly between the government and the pharmacists.

Price negotiations for 15 additional medicines selected will be handled by the Donald Trump administration and, if agreements are reached, they will almost ensure billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers.

In addition to Ozempic and Wegovysome of the other medications include Trelegy Ellipta, which is about asthma; Otezla, a medicine for psoriatic arthritis; and several that treat different forms of cancer.

The list is a first step in the negotiations and, given the moment, the details and the final prices will be in charge of the administration of President -elect Donald Trump.

For some people this is very important, ”said US Secretary and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, in a call with journalists. “Some people have to skip a dose in their recipe to last longer.”

This raises the total of 25 medications that will have lower prices for those enrolled in Medicare.

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Together, those 25 medications represent a third of Medicare’s expense in recipes, Becerra said. Ozempic and Wegovy, in particular, have been examined for their high pocket costs.

However, those enrolled in Medicare will still not be able to access the medications for obesity under a federal law that prohibits the program from paying for treatment treatments. At the moment, Medicare will only cover Ozempic and Wegovy When used to treat diabetes or reduce blood sugar. A rule proposed by the Biden Democratic Administration – and that Trump’s Republican administration will decide whether to implement – would cover the popular drug loss medications.

Savings in the 25 medications come from a new law that allows Medicar to negotiate the price it pays for the most popular and expensive prescription medications used by older people. For years, Medicare was legally prohibited to make such negotiations. The law, approved by the Democrats and signed by President Joe Biden, was opposed by the Republicans at that time, but it is not clear if they are now interested in trying to repeal or weaken such legislation.

Pharmaceutical companies have sued for negotiations and continue to oppose the program. The main pharmaceutical lobby urged the next administration and Congress to “fix” the law.

When taking this list in its last days, the Biden government once again does not address the true challenges facing the elders and Medicare, ”Stephen UBL, president and executive director of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in a statement.

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At the end of 2024, the Medicare and Medicaid service centers announced that they had reached price agreements with companies for 10 medications in the opening round of negotiations. Under the new agreements, the list prices were reduced in hundreds – in some cases, thousands – of dollars for supplies of 30 days of popular drugs used by millions of people in Medicare.

They included popular anticoagulants such as Xarelto and Eliquis and treatments against diabetes such as Jardia and Januvia. Executives of the pharmaceutical companies told investors during profit calls that did not expect negotiations to impact their final results.

The AARP, one of the most powerful medical interest groups in Washington, reported that it will challenge any effort to weaken the law in the congress controlled by the Republican Party.

For too long, large pharmaceutical companies have increased their profits by establishing exorbitant prices at the expense of American lives, forcing the elderly not to use the recipes they cannot pay, ”said Nancy Leamond, an executive vice president of AARP.

The savings of the new list prices for these medications were expected to generate around 6 billion dollars for taxpayers and 1.5 billion for those registered in Medicare.

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Negotiated prices for the first 10 medications will not enter into force until 2026. Prices for the 15 additional medicines announced will not take effect until 2027. But Some registered in Medicare They should see an improvement in prices by a new standard for 2025 that limits the annual disbursement in prescription medications to 2 thousand dollars.

Under the law, more medications will be added to the negotiation process in the coming years.

Medicare and Medicaid service centers indicated that the 15 medications are Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy; Trelegy Ellipta; Xtandi; Pomalyst; Ibrance; Offev; Linzess; Calquence; Austed and Austedo XR; Breo Ellipta; Trade; Xifaxan; Vraylar; Janumet and Janumet XR; and Otezla.

Ozempic and Wegovy are manufactured by Danish pharmaceuticals Novo Nordisk, whose headquarters in the United States is in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

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