Wegovy injection pens arranged in Waterbury, Vermont, US, on Monday, April 28, 2025. <\/p>\n
Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump<\/a> on Thursday struck landmark deals<\/a> with Eli Lilly<\/a> and Novo Nordisk<\/a> to slash the prices of their blockbuster weight loss drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the agreements, the monthly out-of-pocket cost of popular injections and upcoming pills could range from $50 to $350 starting next year, depending on the dosage and insurance coverage a patient has, Trump administration officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Existing GLP-1s, including Eli Lilly’s obesity injection Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s competitor Wegovy, carry list prices above $1,000 a month, which has prevented many patients from taking them. Both companies have introduced lower cost options for people paying in cash and purchasing the drugs directly through their websites.<\/p>\n But the deals with Trump, as part of his “most favored nation” policy, take those efforts to expand access even further. Here’s how much weight loss drugs could cost for patients under the new agreements, based on the details shared so far.<\/p>\n Medicare\u00a0<\/p>\n Medicare has covered GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and some other medical conditions: for example, Wegovy for slashing cardiovascular risks. But under the new deals, Medicare will start covering the drugs for obesity for the first time starting in mid-2026, which could allow more seniors to qualify for them and spur more private insurers to cover them.<\/p>\n Certain Medicare patients will pay a copay of $50 per month for all approved uses of GLP-1 drugs, including diabetes and obesity treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the Trump administration is putting some constraints on which Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible to receive GLP-1s for obesity and cardiovascular and metabolic benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Patients are eligible if they fall into these three cohorts:<\/p>\n The first includes those who are overweight \u2014 with a body mass index greater than 27 \u2014 or with prediabetes or established cardiovascular disease.The second group is people with obesity \u2013 with a BMI greater than 30 \u2013 and uncontrolled hypertension, kidney disease or heart failure.The third group is patients with severe obesity, or anyone with a BMI greater than 35.<\/p>\n Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk voluntarily agreed to reduce the prices the government pays for existing GLP-1 drugs already approved for diabetes and other uses to $245 a month, across all non-starting doses. Savings generated by those price reductions will allow Medicare to start paying that same price point for GLP-1s for patients with obesity and a high metabolic or cardiovascular risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n