An estimated 100 million adult Americans—more than 40 percent of the population—are classified as obese. This is a massive health crisis that will claim many lives over the next decades. As is well known, drugs now exist that can dramatically reduce obesity and its related health risks. But most of the roughly 37 million adult Americans on Medicaid—an estimated 14 million of whom suffer from obesity—do not have access to these drugs, known as GLP-1s. The reason is simple: These medications are hugely expensive, and the cost of covering them could seriously stretch state budgets in the short term. America should do it anyway.
GLP-1s are near-miracle drugs. On obesity alone they make a huge difference—resulting in about 15 to 20 percent weight loss in randomized trials. And although weight does not define health, and BMI is an overused number, the data are clear that obesity is a risk factor for a variety of diseases and is associated with higher mortality.
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