Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, to sell Wigovy, a weight-loss drug intended to benefit the heart. Medicare will now cover Wegovy prescriptions for patients at high risk for heart disease. Both Ozempic and Wegovy brands are based on the antidiabetic drug semaglutide. File photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/EPA-EFE

CMS said it reconsidered the scope of Wegoby after the FDA expanded its approval to prescribe it to people at risk for heart complications.

Anti-obesity drugs approved to treat conditions other than excess weight are covered by Medicare Part D prescription plans. Reducing the risk of heart disease is a medically recognized use under federal law.

Earlier this month, the FDA found that the manufacturer of Wigovy, after reviewing a study of 17,000 patients that showed people who took Wigovy had a 20% lower risk of heart events than those who took a placebo. Approved Novo Nordisk’s application to enumerate its effects on cardiovascular disease.

Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University’s O’Neill National Institute for Global Health Law, told NBC News that Medicare coverage of Wegobee could be financially risky. The list price for this drug is approximately $1,200.

The Congressional Budget Office maintained its view Wednesday that Wigobee’s report would increase overall federal spending, but that the cost would depend on the actual use of the drug among eligible recipients and the duration of their treatment.

The Obesity Treatment and Reduction Act, which would eliminate Medicare restrictions on weight-loss drugs, has bipartisan support, but support in Congress is likely to stagnate without clearer insight into how it will affect federal spending. It is unlikely that you will get .

Wegovy announced that a December national poll on healthy aging conducted by the University of Michigan found that 3 in 4 adults think Medicare should cover prescription weight loss drugs. No doubt it will be popular with Medicare patients.

Novo Nordisk has announced that it will gradually increase its supply of Wigobee over the course of this year to meet rising demand amid ongoing shortages.