Radar on Drug Benefits

Wegovy Coverage Question Puts Part D Plans in Tricky Position

  • Mar 28

    Mar 28, 2024

    In newly released guidance, CMS told Medicare Part D plans that they’re allowed to cover weight-loss drugs if they’ve been approved for another medical use — a description fitting Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) after it recently received an FDA nod for preventing major heart problems.

    So far, CVS Health Corp., Elevance Health, Inc. and Kaiser Permanente have said their Part D plans will cover Wegovy for its newest approved use: reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people who have cardiovascular disease and who meet body-weight criteria, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 28.

    For other insurers that sell Part D plans, the decision about whether to cover Wegovy represents an additional challenge to grapple with, as they’re also facing significant regulatory changes.

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    • Leslie Small

    Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.

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Managing Editor, Radar on Specialty Pharmacy and Spotlight on Market Access

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Managing Editor, Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits

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Reporter, Radar on Medicare Advantage and Spotlight on Market Access

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Jinghong Chen

Reporter, Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits

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Market Access
Drug Pricing
Medicare Advantage Rx Drug
Health Care Utilization
Medicare Part D
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