Squabbling over the bill for weight-loss drugs

Politico April 18, 2024
By Ben Leonard and Chelsea Cirruzzo

Driving The Day

‘ALL OR NOTHING’ — As employers across the country grapple with how to cover costly weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, pushback from drugmakers and the pharmaceutical middlemen that negotiate drug costs is making the decision even harder, POLITICO’s Kelly Hooper reports.

North Carolina’s state health plan voted to end coverage of weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Saxenda in January, citing concerns that costs could balloon to more than $1 billion over the next six years.

That means the 750,000 public employees enrolled in the plan must pay out of pocket for access to the drugs. And the state, the drugmakers and the state’s pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, blame each other.

“The contracts between the manufacturers and...

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