The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services disclosed last week it will provide coverage for the popular weight loss drug Wegovy for patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.
NBC News and other news organizations reported Thursday that the agency announced Medicare Part D plans will now cover Wegovy when it is prescribed for the prevention of heart attacks, strokes and other serious cardiovascular conditions. Medicaid also will be required to cover the drug to reduce heart disease risk.
Medicare had previously been barred from paying for weight loss medication, but the change will allow for the prescribing of Wegovy for seniors who are overweight and have a history of heart disease, NBC News reported. However, the agency indicated it would not cover Wegovy solely for weight management.
Medicare’s announcement comes only two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration announced that it had approved the use of Wegovy (semaglutide) injection to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in obese or overweight adults with a history of cardiovascular disease.
“Wegovy is now the first weight-loss medication to also be approved to help prevent life-threatening cardiovascular events in adults with cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight,” said John Sharretts, MD, director of the Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a March 8 news release.
Drug maker Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Wegovy, issued a news release following the FDA’s decision, saying a cardiovascular clinical trial of the drug found that Wegovy reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular disease (MACE) by 20% compared to a placebo. The FDA’s enhanced approval of the drug is “an important milestone for people living with obesity and cardiovascular disease,” Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president and head of Development at Novo Nordisk, said in the release.
The FDA noted that the prescribing information for Wegovy contains a boxed warning to inform healthcare professionals and patients about possible side effects, including the potential risk for thyroid C-cell tumors or allergic reactions.
