Medicare will start covering obesity drugs for the first time. Here's what patients should know

Millions of older Americans in Medicare are about to receive a benefit that has never existed before: coverage of obesity drugs . Starting Wednesday, eligible beneficiaries can get GLP-1s to treat obesity for a copay of just $50 per month. It's a watershed move that could unlock a vast new patient population for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and dramatically expand access to medications that were previously out of reach for many people ages 65 and above. Medicare Part D, or prescription drug plans, already cover some GLP-1s for conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but federal law has banned coverage solely for obesity. Medicare's new Bridge demonstration program sidesteps that law to cover the drugs for obesity – at least temporarily – for more beneficiaries, including those who are overweight with conditions like prediabetes or uncontrolled hypertension. There were more than 69 million beneficiaries in Medicare as of about a week ago, and "several million" are expected to access the drugs through the Bridge program, said Chris Klomp, director of Medicare and deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, during the Aspen Ideas Festival last week. There are also many more patients to capture: Roughly 15 million to 20 million older adults in Medicare are estimated to qualify for weight loss drugs, according to Novo and Lilly. But the initial rollout may not be smooth. …