Medicare and Medicaid Services Centers (CMS) said on Friday that they did not advance with the proposal presented by the Biden government of the Medicare covering medicines for weight loss such as the Wegovyfrom the new Nordisk.
The stocks of the new, listed in the US, fell 1.4% in post-market negotiations, while those of Eli Lilly, which manufactures the drug to Obesity Zepbound, fell 3.1%.
The proposal would have allowed more Americans to have access to new GLP-1 drugs that proven to reduce weight by up to 20% and prevent type 2 diabetes, but cost up to $ 1,000 per month without insurance coverage.
The Medicare, the government health program for people aged 65 or over or with disabilities, currently covers the use of LPG-1 medicines, such as Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo Ozepic for diseases such as diabetes, but not versions of these approved medications to treat obesity.
Courtney Breen, an analyst at Bernstein, said that the withdrawal of the proposal “was not surprising,” adding that, “the negotiation pharmaceutical tariffs, this is not the time for the government to give without receiving.”
Lilly said in a statement being disappointed with the measure and will “continue to work with the Trump administration and Congress leaders to ensure that people living with obesity are covered by Medicare and Medicaid and no longer left behind.”
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A new Nordisk spokesman said “today’s announcement was limited,” but the company expects the Trump government to finish the definition of obesity.
“It is essential that CMS regulations are aligned with current medical science – and this means recognizing obesity as a serious chronic disease.”
US Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had previously said that the United States should fight obesity through healthy eating rather than medicines.
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CMs also said they are not advancing with two other proposals: one that requires Medicare providers to analyze their health services use policies from a health equity perspective, and another that seeks protection barriers to artificial intelligence tools amid concerns that they can be used to deny or delay care.