Access to weight loss drugs will save taxpayer money: Dr. Oz

(NewsNation) — Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said Thursday that discounted weight-loss drugs will save American taxpayers money within two years, claiming the deal addresses obesity-related conditions that drive more than a quarter of total health care costs.

“We will actually, within two years from when that ink dried in the Oval Office today … save the American taxpayer money — for the first time, maybe — on health care,” Oz told NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”

The Trump administration reached agreements with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly under its Most Favored Nation policy to sell GLP-1 products at reduced prices.

Injectable versions will cost $245 monthly for Medicare and Medicaid patients, while oral formulations will start at $149 per month.

Oz defended prioritizing obesity medications, arguing they will reduce downstream costs from diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks and other conditions.

He said the drugs have been primarily available to wealthy Americans, citing the Upper East Side of Manhattan as having the highest prescription rate.

“Vulnerable populations who died disproportionately from obesity because their food is terrible … suffer unnecessarily because they don’t get access to the drug,” Oz said.

The deals mark the fourth Most Favored Nation agreement under the administration’s pharmaceutical pricing initiative. Senior officials estimate about 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries will qualify for expanded GLP-1 access.

Oz acknowledged obesity isn’t “a deficiency of GLP drugs” but called reducing costs of the drugs “a belt-and-suspenders approach,” saying the administration is also changing food access through SNAP waivers and Medicare Advantage plans.

The discounted prices are separate from Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program, which selected Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic earlier this year.

Administration officials did not explain how Medicare would cover drugs currently indicated only for diabetes and obesity, given legal restrictions on obesity medication coverage.

NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.