Wegoby, a popular and in-demand weight loss drug, is now eligible for Medicare and Medicaid coverage only if the patient using it has heart disease.

A recent trial enrolling more than 17,000 participants demonstrated that Wegovy reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease by 20% compared to a placebo. More than 17,000 participants enrolled in the study were overweight or obese, had cardiovascular disease, but did not have diabetes. This landmark trial was the first to show that certain obesity drugs may have long-term benefits for heart health in people who are overweight or obese.

Wegovy’s active ingredient, semaglutide, mimics the naturally occurring hormone glucagon-like peptide-1, which slows the emptying of food from the stomach and acts on the hunger center in the brain to reduce appetite. It also stimulates the pancreas to release insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels.

Now that Medicare covers Wegoby, many other drug companies will likely seek approval for additional anti-obesity drugs if they can demonstrate the drug’s benefits beyond pure weight loss. For example, Zepbound is a similar but different drug used to treat obesity that is not currently covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Obesity experts believe Zepbound’s maker Eli Lilly will show evidence that its drug has cardiovascular benefits in addition to weight loss, Reuters reports. This trend could open the door for many pharmaceutical companies to accelerate research to prove that their drugs offer additional benefits for Medicare coverage.

Wegovy is not cheap and remains in high demand. A monthly supply of the drug can cost more than $13,000, according to information from SingleCare. This could result in significant federal health spending, with analysts predicting the weight-loss drug market to reach $100 billion a year by the end of 2010, Reuters reports. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion, 5% of Americans have coronary heart disease (the most common form of heart disease) and more than 2 in 5 American adults are obese. , demand for these drugs is likely to exceed supply. Kidney disease.

As Wegovy becomes more popular and prescribed more frequently, the trend of side effects in the population will also be amplified. Although it is a generally safe drug, common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. In rare cases, this drug may be associated with pancreatic inflammation, gallbladder problems, kidney failure, depression, suicidal thoughts, and even some thyroid tumors. People taking Wegovy should be closely monitored for some of these more serious side effects.

Finally, an unintended consequence of Wegovy becoming more available is that patients may seek heart disease diagnoses to get Wegovy cheaper from Medicare coverage. Medicare covers her Wegovy for overweight patients and obese patients with heart disease, but it does not cover obesity alone. But what exactly does heart disease mean? Since high blood pressure is a clear risk factor for heart disease, are patients who experience transient high blood pressure covered by Wegovy’s Medicare insurance? Patients may blur the lines in an attempt to present themselves as heart patients, and physicians may use the presumption of reducing the risk of heart disease in certain patients who would otherwise be at minimal risk. It is possible to start prescribing Wegovy based on.

Despite economic hurdles and unintended public health impacts, Medicare coverage could make Wegovy more accessible and help curb cardiovascular disease, which remains the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. There is a gender. Moreover, it could simultaneously curb the obesity epidemic in America and provide relief to millions of Americans.