Posted on 11/28/2024 5:26:36 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The Biden administration's eleventh hour move to expand Medicare coverage for anti-obesity drugs is likely to be popular among seniors, putting the Trump administration — which would ultimately decide whether to carry out the expansion — in the hot seat.
Why it matters: The buzzy class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists have been hailed as game changers amid an obesity crisis tied to chronic diseases.
But the drugs are pricey, and insurers, advocacy groups and policymakers warn that opening up coverage for them could be a recipe for runaway costs in an already financially taxed system.
Driving the news: Under current law, Medicare is barred by Congress from covering drugs for weight loss. They're covered only as an optional benefit on state Medicaid plans, and coverage varies by state.
Biden administration officials say they're reinterpreting the statute by addressing obesity as a chronic condition rather than weight loss.
"I have heard from countless people about how this coverage exclusion is a barrier preventing people from treating obesity and living healthier lives," Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a call with reporters.
(Excerpt) Read more at axios.com ...
Take me: Rather than blaming alcohol, bad food or lousy genes (mother's side), I understand that I CHOOSE to drink the alcohol, and I CHOOSE to eat the bad foods. I can only make a commitment to do better, rather than ask to plunder the taxpayer more for a largely reversible condition.
If you want to feel better, blame others. If you want to GET BETTER, blame yourself.
That's been my motto and it works!
Fight obesity. Go in a diet.
What ever happened to discipline and self-control.?
The drugs high cost is artificial. In denmark, home of the manufacturer, it retails for 139.00 a month. In the US it goes for over a 1000.00 . It’s an ally screwing America because the Biden Medicare regulations, until recently, prevented Medicare from negotiating prices. Now Medicare wants to lock in the high prices. Treat Denmark like China, if you want to charge Americans 8x the Danish price, an 800% tariff on your exports to America. Then the price would drop. I have a dead thyroid, and I gain weight by looking at food. It’s keeps me from having cravings and stopped the weight gain. Insurance will only approved it if you have had a heat attack. Not waiting around for that.
I think getting RFK and his group in will make a huge difference. If they get harmful chemicals out of our food you will see a drop in obesity.
So youre against drug addicts taking suboxone or Narcan?
And against alcoholics and smokers taking Wellbutrin?
I’m glad you believe you deserve to punish yourself a whole lot :)
But kicking habits that affect the limbic system is very, very hard.
Honestly, it’s an ancient way of thinking...”suck it up!! to hell with science!” :)
If a med that is going to save a million dollars in treatment for heart attacks and strokes in a person’s lifetime costs 20,000 bucks short term (2 years) then I’d say even keeping your rant in mind, it’s still worth it :)
You can go down with the ship.
I’ll take all the help I can get :)
For me, they are the first class of drugs that can control my blood sugar. The weight loss was a nice surprise. But the uncontrollable blood sugar is what led to me being on them.
$1,000 a month?! So people lose weight because they can’t afford to eat?
I’m confused by the article’s use of the phrase “buzzy class of drugs.” Never heard of that before.
That's a pretty good saying. It applies well to a broad swath of life's problems.
Drugs can have nasty side effects. Eating less saves money.
More drugs
Big Pharma likes that
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=buzzy+class+of+drugs&ia=web
seems to be on the net...........................
I see from that that the same text has been copied and pasted onto about 20 websites but I don’t see any explanation for what the term “buzzy” means in the context of drug classes.
Hey....Pharms have a pill for everything....That’s the goal...everyone on Meds...from children (ADHD) to the Obese...to those on statins...and those killer blood thinners.
“obesity crisis tied to chronic diseases”
Umm, isn’t it the other way around? If one is obese are not they likely more prone to develop a chronic disease?
I agree 100%. I've seen others have such radical weight loss results that, after a couple of years, I decided to get onboard. While I'm still a little early in the process, I have found that it just dampens down (and in some cases, but not mine) eliminates hunger pangs.
In my case it causes me to decide to sleep a little later each morning rather than have breakfast. And, single meals end up being spread over 2-3 meals, which is nice.
My friend who has had the radical results finds that he actually has to be reminded to eat.
Somewhere along the way I'll stop taking it, but by then I'll be walking a lot more.
Opiates and nicotine are highly, highly addictive, and the ramifications of quitting opiates cold turkey may result in death. That’s why people detox when coming off, usually in a medical facility.
Choosing to eat and drink garbage, empty, high-calorie items is entirely different. You do not go into convulsions coming off of sugar, fat, or salt. The worst you get from caffeine withdrawal is being tired and jittery. You do not have unbearable pain without those things. You don’t puke your guts up and get diarrhea.
Also note that my grandmother, after smoking tobacco for more than seventy years, just quit one day. Said she just didn’t feel like it anymore. No gum, patches, or what-have-you; it can be done. She used to smoke two packs a day.
Changing your diet is far less expensive. GLP-1 inhibitors should be dispensed to diabetics and people with thyroid conditions; not for lifestyle-related obesity. No. Diabetics who’ve been on these since they came out now cannot get them.
I’m guessing you don’t have to tell these people, “I’m sorry, we can’t dispense your life-saving drug to you because doctors are handing it out to all of the fatties like candy, and as a result the manufacturer can’t keep up with demand.” I do.
You trust the FDA & Pharmy companies who are motivated solely by profit? Still after all the COVID scandals??? I would no more take one of those obesity drugs than chow down on rat poison.
It means creating a buzz. Being talked about.
Ditto, Completely.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.