Recently retired Rep. Ron Kind (D, Wisconsin), who proposed legislation to allow coverage, joined Arnold & Porter in February. But ethics rules bar him from lobbying his former colleagues in Congress for a year.
Lobbyists working on the deal include Sonya Nesbitt, a senior HHS official in the Obama administration, and Eugenia Pearson, a longtime Republican medical lobbyist.
Novo Nordisk spent a total of $4.6 million on federal lobbying last year, and $1.3 million in the first three months of 2023. The company and six outside lobbying firms listed lobbying for the use of obesity drugs in this year’s disclosure documents.
Both drugs contain the active ingredient semaglutide, but Ozempic is off-label as an anti-obesity drug and is only approved for diabetes. Wegovy is FDA approved for weight loss.
Medicare Part D and most private insurance companies only cover Ozempic for diabetes care. Without insurance, drug use can cost patients about $16,000 a year.
a study Turned out to be cited by the Kaiser Family Foundation News coverage of a weight-loss drug like Wegobee could add nearly $27 billion to Medicare Part D spending if 41 percent of Americans over the age of 60 who are considered obese decide to take the drug. be.
However, these estimates do not include the potential savings Medicare could realize if obesity were to decline. USC Scheffer Center paper Earlier this year, it became clear that the potential was significant.
This is the second Medicare lobbying registration for weight loss drug coverage this year. In January, Eli Lilly, which makes Munjaro, an off-label diabetes drug that is also used for weight loss, hired Todd Strategy Group to tackle the problem.
