Medicare can pay for obesity drugs like Wegovy in certain heart patients

By JONEL ALECCIA
AP Health Writer

Certain Medicare patients may get help paying for the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, as long as they also have heart disease. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued new gudiance that says Medicare Part D drug benefit plans can cover anti-obesity drugs as long as they’re approved for an additional use. The guidance opens the door to wider coverage of Wegovy, which was approved to prevent the risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious heart problems in patients who are overweight or have obesity. Research showed that Wegovy cut the risk of those problems by 20% in such patients.