Letter to the Editor: Trump granting Medicare coverage of anti-obesity meds will save the government billions

The health of both the American people and the nation’s debt has been going in the wrong direction for many years. Over the last few decades, rates of obesity have skyrocketed, with 100 million Americans now being classified as obese. Projections for the future don’t look great either, with that number expected to soar to 120 million in just five years. The fact that both personal healthcare spending and Medicare spending have increased drastically at the same time is not a coincidence.

It’s no wonder that there is a broad, popular movement to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ that has taken hold of the country over the past few years. Nearly 42 percent of American adults are obese, and the health risks associated with it are taking a toll on the country with over 200 chronic diseases and conditions, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

These diseases and conditions take a toll on the lives and pocketbooks of the American people. Obesity has now become the second leading cause of preventable death in the nation. These chronic conditions are expensive to treat over the course of a lifetime, and if we begin fighting as a country to decrease obesity rates, we could drastically improve the lives of millions of people and save a whole lot of money while doing it.

While there are many things that we should do to fight obesity, such as promoting healthy lifestyles and making efforts to improve eating habits, there are also common-sense policies that we can adopt on a federal level. We should allow everyone the choice to access a wide range of treatments to fight obesity, including anti-obesity medications (AOMs). Something seniors on Medicare haven’t had the option to utilize to treat obesity. Many in Congress have previously worked to update Medicare to grant recipients the option to access these medications including Senator Grassley and Representative Miller-Meeks. However, now the ball is in the Trump administration’s court to update the program and improve access to treatments to fight obesity for those on Medicare. By doing so, the administration could improve the lives of many Americans and save the program billions.

The savings to Medicare would be staggering. On average, Medicare spends over $2,000 more yearly on beneficiaries with obesity compared to healthy-weight beneficiaries. If Medicare allows these medications as options, it could save the government billions. Between $175-250 billion over 10 years that would otherwise be spent on treating obesity related conditions.

President Trump has promised us the greatest comeback in American history. By expanding access to treatments for those on Medicare, he would not only work towards making America healthy again, but he would also be saving the American people billions of dollars. By granting Medicare recipients access to these medications, his administration could improve the lives of many Americans while also saving the government billions. I hope he will consider doing so in our battle to address the growing obesity crisis and ‘Make America Healthy Again.’

Thad Nearmyer

Monroe