Medicare proposes covering weight-loss drugs, teeing up clash with RFK Jr.

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

59% : The Biden administration's proposal was crafted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is scheduled to be issued at 8:45 a.m. in the Federal Register.
48% : "Becerra said the proposal would expand coverage of antiobesity drugs to 7.5 million people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, which his agency projected would add $25 billion in Medicare costs and $11 billion in Medicaid costs during the next decade.
48% : While the rules were written for the Medicare program, which covers older Americans, the new interpretation of weight-loss drugs also applies to Medicaid, which covers low-income Americans.
46% : The Biden administration Tuesday will propose expanding coverage of weight-loss medications for millions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, a late-term proposal that officials said would boost public health and which puts pressure on the incoming Trump administration to finalize the benefit.
46% : Under current rules, Medicare does not cover weight-loss medication, although many beneficiaries receive drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy to treat diabetes and heart disease, conditions that can be exacerbated by obesity.
46% : The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency, last month concluded that expanding coverage to antiobesity drugs would cost Medicare an additional $35 billion between 2026 and 2034 -- a figure higher than what the Biden administration estimates.
44% : Six in 10 adults believe that Medicare should cover the drugs for weight loss, with Democrats somewhat more likely than Republicans to be in favor, according to a poll released in May by KFF, a nonpartisan health-care research organization.
41% : Biden officials seeking to finalize their weight-loss proposal may find an ally in Mehmet Oz, the TV personality and cardiothoracic surgeon whom Trump last week tapped to lead CMS.
39% : Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- whom Trump has selected to be the next HHS secretary, if confirmed by the Senate -- is an avowed critic of weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, which he has blamed for obfuscating the root causes of poor health in America.
38% : The proposal would expand coverage of anti-obesity drugs to 7.5 million people covered by Medicare and Medicaid, the Biden administration said.
38% : Becerra said the additional costs represented a modest fraction of the forecasted spending for Medicare, citing estimates that the program is expected to spend more than $2 trillion on drugs across the next decade.

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