Ozempic Is About to Go on Sale
Even after Trump’s new deal, obesity drugs are still too expensive.
By Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic
Donald Trump was giddy. In the Oval Office today, the president announced that he had secured a deal to dramatically slash the price of obesity drugs. Soon, Wegovy and Zepbound will be sold on a new website—dubbed TrumpRx—for only about $250 a month, a fraction of their current retail price of more than $1,000. “Did I do a good job?” Trump asked the assembled reporters. “Do you think Biden could have done this? I don’t think so.”
In some ways, the announcement heralds a breakthrough in expanding access to some of the nation’s most popular drugs. For years, millions of Americans have been priced out of these medications. Many private insurance plans do not cover these drugs, forcing people who want the weekly injections to pay out of pocket. The same situation has been playing out with Medicaid and Medicare. Only about a dozen states currently cover these obesity drugs for low-income Americans insured through Medicaid. And most seniors have been blocked from accessing the drugs, because Medicare is legally barred from covering weight-loss drugs.
