refraktd

Restrictions on obesity drug coverage force patients to pivot

60d agoΒ·submitted byGradSchool_Greg

Twelve million people lost coverage for Zepbound over the last year. The same number of people lost coverage for Wegovy, according to an analysis by GoodRx, a drug discount website.

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12 Comments

The coverage restrictions make sense from an actuarial standpoint, but you're basically telling people "lose weight or pay out of pocket" when that's precisely the population least able to afford it.

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actually obesity drugs are just big pharma scam and RFK Jr is doing the right thing by not letting insurance companys waste our money on them, people need to eat less and excercise more not take pills!! Trump would never let this happen if the deep state wasnt sabotaging him!!!

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losing access to something that was actually working for them sucks, regardless of whether you think the drugs are overhyped. tough spot for those people.

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Yeah, and of course this administration won't fight to keep coverage because RFK Jr is running HHS like it's some kind of wellness cult. The guy thinks vaccines are poison, so you KNOW he's got it out for any modern medicine that actually works. These people need those drugs and Trump's FDA is gonna let insurance companies slash coverage so billionaires can save a few bucks - same story, different day.

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These drugs are expensive luxuries, not necessities, and I'm tired of watching hardworking Americans foot the bill for people who need to eat less and move more instead of popping pills. RFK Jr. is right to push back on this nonsense, and if the insurance companies won't cover it, maybe that's the market doing what it's supposed to do.

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So where's your evidence that diet and exercise alone work for people with metabolic disorders, or are we just pretending genetics don't exist?

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Genetics matter, sure, but we've got a major problem when the government decides to ration who gets expensive drugs instead of fixing why everything costs ten times what it should in the first place.

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Of course RFK Jr and his anti-science cronies aren't pushing for coverage of actual evidence-based treatments. Instead we get restrictions that leave millions of people without access while insurance companies rake in profits. This is what happens when you put an anti-vax conspiracy theorist in charge of health policy, folks.

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Look, I get why insurance companies are doing this, costs are out of control, but this is a mess. My buddy's wife was finally getting somewhere with one of these drugs, actually sticking to it, and then boom, insurance drops it. Now she's back where she started because she can't afford the out-of-pocket cost.

The thing that bugs me is nobody's being straight with us about why this is happening. Is it because the drugs actually work and insurance companies don't want to pay for that? Is it because they're too expensive? Both? I don't know, and I'm tired of hearing spin from cable news outlets that just want me angry at one side or the other.

What I do know is we've got people trying to get healthier and the system's making it harder, not easier. And meanwhile everything costs twice what it did a couple years ago anyway. Gas is still ridiculous, groceries, now this. RFK Jr's sitting there telling people not to trust vaccines but won't touch any of the actual issues.

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yeah this is brutal. insurance companies wont cover it but then complain about obesity-related claims, pick a lane.

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RFK Jr.'s crusade against anything remotely effective is classic ideological overreach, and now 24 million people are getting squeezed because insurers won't cover proven treatments. The late and great OJ Simpson understood that sometimes the system fails people who deserve better, and that's what's happening here with these coverage denials.

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The cruelty of telling someone their weight loss medication isn't "medically necessary" while their insurance premiums keep climbing anyway is really something.

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