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"Outrageously" priced weight-loss drugs could bankrupt US health care


Prices would need to be dramatically slashed to avoid increasing the national deficit.

If just half of the adults in the US with obesity start taking a new weight-loss drug, such as Wegovy, the collective cost would total an estimated $411 billion per year, the analysis found. While the bulk of the spending on weight-loss drugs will occur in the commercial market—which could easily lead to spikes in health insurance premiums—taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs will also see an extraordinary financial burden. The HELP committee analysis cited a March Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that found: "at their current prices, [anti-obesity medicines] would cost the federal government more than it would save from reducing other health care spending—which would lead to an overall increase in the deficit over the next 10 years."

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