Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Wednesday called on the Trump administration to back a Biden-era rule that would expand access to GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, for millions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
In a New York Times op-ed, Fetterman appealed to President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally, describing his own experience taking Mounjaro, which he said he was originally prescribed to reduce risk of cardiac events after he suffered a stroke in 2022.
“Even though I started taking it for my heart health, I’ve been struck by how much better it has made me feel across the board,” Fetterman wrote. “It’s made a significant impact on my overall health. Aches, pains and stiffness have vanished. Physically, I feel a decade younger, clearer-headed and more optimistic than I’d been in years. As far as a side effects, I’ve also lost around 20 pounds.”
“And it’s not just me — millions of Americans have experienced similar life-changing benefits, regardless of why they started on these medications,” he added, later adding he is “not being compensated for talking about my treatment in any way.”
Under a rule proposed last November by the Biden administration, anti-obesity drugs would be covered by Medicare and Medicaid, expanding access for roughly 3.4 million Medicare users and about 4 million Medicaid enrollees.
But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reversed course late last week, saying in a notice on Friday that it would not be finalizing the rule, providing no further details. The drugs could cost up to $1,000 each month without insurance coverage.
Medicare does cover GLP-1 drugs when prescribed for conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, but legislation from 2003 prohibits Medicare from covering drugs for weight loss. Under the Biden administration’s proposal, older and/or low-income Americans with a body mass index of 30 or higher would have qualified for the coverage.
Fetterman, in his op-ed, recognized that expanding coverage could increase Medicare spending, but said Medicare now has the power to negotiate for better deals and said chronic diseases end up costing the U.S. economy more than $1 trillion each year.
He also acknowledged some of Kennedy’s public criticism of the anti-obesity drugs, including that Americans should prioritize healthier diets over medication.
“I fully agree that diet and lifestyle matter — a lot. But diet alone isn’t enough,” Fetterman wrote. “For the millions of Americans struggling with serious health issues, medication can be a crucial first step to regaining enough control of their health to begin making meaningful lifestyle changes.”
He also noted nearly half of American adults struggle with obesity, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes: “Expanding medication coverage isn’t about vanity; it’s about giving millions of Americans a real shot at healthier lives.”
Fetterman leaned on his bipartisan record to make the case that supporting this rule should not be about politics.
“If Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy are truly committed to making America healthy again, we need real tools like these,” Fetterman wrote.
“I’ve always believed that no political party holds a monopoly on good ideas. That’s why I regularly work across the aisle and try to find common ground. It’s why I met with Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominees and voted for some of them. It’s also why I met with Mr. Trump himself,” he continued.
“It should be simple: Our government should be in the business of making lifesaving medication accessible and affordable. Mr. Biden’s now-discarded rule is the type of common-sense solution that politicians in D.C. talk about all the time but rarely actually make happen. I ask the Trump administration and Mr. Kennedy to reverse course and put this rule into place.”
