A late 2024 CMS proposal to include obesity drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly and Co.’s Zepbound (tirzepatide) under Medicaid and Medicare didn’t make it far under the new U.S. administration. A final rule, set to be published in the Federal Register April 15, will not include the provision that would have added obesity drugs to Part D coverage beginning in 2026.
Mehmet Oz won the U.S. Senate’s nod as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Oz brought in 53 aye votes to 45 nays in the Senate’s April 3 confirmation tally, and inherits a complicated task as the Medicare breakthrough devices coverage program continues to face substantial challenges.
Mehmet Oz, the Trump administration’s pick to lead the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), appeared for a second time in the Senate for the CMS administrator’s job.
Cardiothoracic surgeon and television personality Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), faced the U.S. Senate’s finance committee on March 14, suggesting the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the reduction of drug prices would be among his top priorities, if confirmed.
Several drugs already selected for Medicare price negotiations, including Novo Nordisk A/S’ mega-blockbuster diabetes/weight-loss franchise, could see up to a three-year reprieve if a bipartisan bill recently introduced in the U.S. House and Senate becomes law.
The Trump administration dashed hopes that it would temper the Medicare price negotiations mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act when it filed the government’s brief in response to Novartis AG’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Now that Novo Nordisk A/S’ blockbuster semaglutide franchise has been selected as one drug for the next round of the CMS price negotiation, the Bagsværd, Denmark-based company is asking a U.S. appellate court to expedite its consideration of Novo’s challenge to the negotiations and the way CMS is implementing the program.
One of the uncertainties in the changing of the guard in both the U.S. administration and Congress is the future of 340B reforms. Now the Inflation Reduction Act makes reforms more critical than ever, as it requires manufacturers of drugs selected for price negotiations to certify that they’re giving 340B entities the lowest price, be it the 340B discount or the maximum fair price set by the CMS as part of the negotiation process.
A study published in Jama Network Open in December indicated a direct correlation between adult weight loss and reduced health care spending, suggesting that current glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) should be reimbursed by Medicare and employer insurances for obesity and overweight conditions.
With key officials yet to be confirmed at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the acting secretary imposed an immediate pause throughout the department on publicly issuing any document or communication without first getting it approved by a presidential appointee.
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