*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img+div{display:none} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-10 td.column.first .border,.row-8 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-12 td.column.last .border,.row-8 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0}.row-12 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:15px solid transparent;border-left:0}} Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon}
Health Care
Health Care
The Big Story
Sanders locks onto next drug pricing target: Ozempic
After successfully getting manufacturers to lower the prices of insulin and inhalers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) now has popular weight-loss drugs in his sights.
© AP
Sanders, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced this week he’s launching an investigation into the price of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.
“The scientists at Novo Nordisk deserve great credit for developing these drugs that have the potential to be a game changer for millions of Americans struggling with type 2 diabetes and obesity,” Sanders said in a letter to Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
“As important as these drugs are, they will not do any good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them,” he added.
Sanders asked for internal communications about the prices of the drugs in the U.S., where consumers pay much more than other countries. He also asked why the company charges more for Wegovy when it and Ozempic are the same drug.
The monthly list price for Ozempic is $935 for four weekly injections, according to Novo Nordisk’s website. The manufacturer’s weight-loss drug Wegovy is also a semaglutide injection. Its list price is about $1,349 per month.
“Further, if the prices for these products are not substantially reduced, they also have the potential to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and our entire health care system,” Sanders wrote.
According to an analysis from KFF, spending on Ozempic alone increased from $2.6 billion in 2021 to $4.6 billion in 2022.
Federal law bars Medicare from covering weight-loss drugs, though Congress is considering taking steps to change the policy. Private insurers have been unwilling to cover weight-loss drugs because they are viewed as lifestyle or cosmetic medicine and not essential.
Ozempic is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat diabetes, and Wegovy is approved to help with weight loss in certain patients or lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.
Essential Reads
How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
US birth rate falls to record low after pandemic bump
The U.S. birth rate fell to a record low after seeing a bump during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Full Story Fetterman, Warren lead Democrats in urging DEA to ‘swiftly’ take marijuana off Schedule I
A coalition of Democrats called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to quickly remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), signaling impatience over the agency’s ongoing review of cannabis’s designation. The lawmakers were led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and John Fetterman (Pa.) and Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) in a letter addressed to Attorney …
Full Story Youth alcohol, e-cigarette use ‘alarming’: WHO
The World Health Organization is sounding the alarm on the use of alcohol and electronic cigarettes in adolescents, calling the widespread use “alarming” in a new analysis. The WHO, in a report published Thursday, said their findings show a “concerning picture” of substance use in youth, according to data from ages 11, 13 and 15 years. Alcohol is the most commonly used substance among adolescents, with …
Full Story In Other News
Branch out with a different read:
Minneapolis smokers to pay some of the highest cigarette prices in US with a $15 per-pack minimum
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Smokers in Minneapolis will pay some of the highest cigarette prices in the country after the City Council voted unanimously Thursday to impose a minimum retail price of $15 per pack to promote public health. The ordinance not only sets a floor price. It prevents smokers and retailers from getting around it by prohibiting …
Full Story Around the Nation
Local and state headlines on health care:
- How one state is trying to make weight loss drugs cheaper (NBC News)
- Vt. health officials monitoring measles case (WCAX)
- Illinois bill to reform health insurance industry one step closer to becoming law (WCIA)
What We're Reading
Health news we've flagged from other outlets:
- Food recalls reach highest level since before pandemic (Axios)
- The breathtaking lifesaving impact of vaccines, in one chart (Vox)
- Genetics studies have a diversity problem that researchers struggle to fix (KFF Health News)
What Others are Reading
Most read stories on The Hill right now:
DeSantis: Florida ‘will not comply’ with new Biden Title IX rules
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Thursday his state “will not comply” with recently unveiled changes to Title IX by the Biden administration. “Florida … Read more
Texas Gov. Abbott faces backlash after mass arrest at UT Austin pro-Palestine protest
After Texas state troopers arrested more than 50 people at a University of Texas at Austin protest this week, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is facing accusations … Read more
You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
Close Thank you for signing up!
Subscribe to more newsletters here
The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Health Care newsletter Subscribe
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Donald Low
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
visit website
