CHARLESTON – A proposal floated Tuesday by outgoing President Joe Biden to require Medicare and Medicaid to provide coverage for prescriptions for popular but expensive injectable weight-loss drugs received tentative support from West Virginia’s incoming senior senator and of the state’s new junior senator.

The White House announced Tuesday that Biden would propose a new rule to expand coverage of anti-obesity drugs — such as Ozempic and Wegovy — through Medicare and Medicaid.

Currently, Medicare and Medicaid only cover the cost of these medications for specific diagnoses, such as type 2 diabetes.

“Today’s new proposal would expand access to these innovative medications for obesity, which is widely recognized as a disease, and help approximately 3.4 million Americans with Medicare,” according to a fact sheet released Tuesday by the Biden administration. “Medicare coverage would reduce the out-of-pocket costs of these prescription drugs by up to 95% for some enrollees.

“Approximately 4 million adults enrolled in Medicaid would also benefit from new access to these medications,” the fact sheet continues.

“This proposal would allow Americans and their doctors to determine the best path forward so they can lead healthier lives, without worrying about their ability to cover these medications out of pocket, and ultimately reduce health care costs for our country. »

Commonly called GLP-1 medications, these weekly injectable anti-obesity medications help manage blood sugar, slow digestion, and manage hunger.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the first GLP-1 drugs were approved in 2005 and were first used to treat type 2 diabetes.

But in recent years, doctors have prescribed GLP-1 drugs without a diabetes diagnosis to lose weight, although lifestyle changes – such as diet, portion control and exercise – are still necessary to long-term weight loss.

Kelley Moore, a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying Capito supported the proposal.

“Senator Capito has long supported the idea of ​​covering anti-obesity drugs,” Moore said. “She looks forward to reviewing this proposal and working with the incoming Trump administration to create policies that lead to healthy communities.” »

Speaking Tuesday afternoon during his weekly administrative briefing at the State Capitol Building before a long Thanksgiving break for state employees, Justice said he was using Ozempic to try to help him lose weight.

“I am currently on Ozempic and am trying every way I can to lose weight,” Justice said. “I was able to lose 30 or 40 pounds, maybe even 50 pounds.”

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, GLP-1 drugs can cost up to $1,000 for a monthly supply. These GLP-1 drugs are already putting pressure on private health insurance plans, with several plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplace requiring prior authorization before being prescribed. The use of these drugs is also behind recent proposals to increase premiums from the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA).

Despite the high cost of GLP-1 drugs, Justice said he believes making the drugs more readily available through Medicare and Medicaid could help reduce future health care costs as more people begin to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle.

“As far as I know about these drugs, they are beneficial in different ways,” Justice said. “The bottom line of this is at the end of the rainbow it will save us money…I would be a proponent of trying to do everything we can to be able to expand these drugs…to the entire world.

“The battlefield will be the cost,” Justice continued. “How are we going to manage the cost? And there will surely be debates about the health benefits, but I don’t think there can be that much discussion. There is too much research on this and it’s all good stuff.

However, Justice said he believes Biden should wait to implement the new GLP-1 rule and allow the new administration of former President Donald Trump to review the proposal and decide whether to implement it or No.

“I have a problem moving forward now because it’s going to take real work and real research and how we’re going to manage the cost,” Justice said. “What are we going to do?” Can we reduce costs with drug producers? There are so many different paths and different ways of doing this.

(Adams can be contacted at [email protected])