Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans - WVUA 23

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

66% : Becerra estimated that an additional 3.5 million people on Medicare and 4 million on Medicaid could qualify for coverage of the drugs.
46% : A bipartisan coalition of congressional members has lobbied for the drugs to be covered by Medicare, saying it could save the government from spending billions of dollars on treating chronic ailments that stem from obesity.
43% : WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Americans with obesity would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning.
43% : But research suggests far more people might qualify, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimating roughly 28 million people on Medicaid are considered obese.
41% : Some people may already get coverage of the drugs through Medicare or Medicaid, if they have diabetes or are at risk for stroke or heart disease.
39% : Medicare has been barred from offering the drugs under a decades-old law that prohibits the government-backed insurance program from covering weight-loss products.
37% : In speeches and on social media, he's said the U.S. should not cover the drugs through Medicaid or Medicare.
36% : "The rule would not be finalized until January, days after Trump takes office.
30% : While it's unclear where Trump himself stands on coverage of the weight-loss drugs, his allies and Cabinet picks who have vowed to cut government spending could balk at the upfront price tag.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.