(HealthDay News) — According to the latest University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, about three in four older Americans (76%) believe Medicare should cover the cost of weight-loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound.
More than four out of five older adults (83%) think insurance companies should pay for drugs that help people with obesity manage their weight, according to poll results from more than 2,600 people ages 50 to 80 years.
A 2003 law currently prohibits Medicare from covering medications specifically for weight loss, although the federal insurance program can cover drugs that help people with type 2 diabetes manage their weight, researchers said in background notes.
In the poll, researchers found wide interest among older adults for using weight-loss drugs to drop extra pounds. About one in four poll respondents said they are overweight, and 63% of them are interested in taking a weight-loss medication. So are 45% of those who have diabetes, regardless of their weight. The drugs appear to make a good impression as well. Among those who had ever taken a weight-loss medication, 83% said they would do so again.
Poll results show that Ozempic/Wegovy has largely driven this new interest in weight-loss medications. The poll revealed that 61% of older adults had heard of the diabetes drug Ozempic, but only 18% had heard of the version approved specifically for weight loss, Wegovy. Other weight-loss drugs were much less familiar to poll respondents. Only 13% had heard of an older drug called phentermine, and just 3% had heard of Qsymia, Saxenda or Contrave.
