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Millions more Americans could access obesity drugs after Trump’s deals with Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk
US President Donald Trump makes an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 6, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Thursday struck landmark deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk that could mark a turning point in how many people can access their costly blockbuster obesity drugs.
Under the agreements, Medicare will start covering GLP-1s for obesity for certain patients for the first time beginning in mid-2026 – a shift that will open access to millions of older adults and could spur more employers and other private insurers to follow suit, some experts said. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also lowering the prices that all state Medicaid programs will pay for GLP-1s, but it’s up to states to opt into coverage.
Obesity drug coverage among state Medicaid plans, employers and other private insurers remains spotty due to the $1,000 or more monthly list prices of existing GLP-1s, including Eli Lilly’s obesity injection Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s competitor Wegovy.
The limited insurance coverage has blocked out patients who can’t afford their hefty price tags. That lack of access has led to mounting pressure on health plans and the government to expand coverage — and the government agreements with drugmakers could mark a major shift.
“I think it’ll start with the government, start with Medicare, and the insurers will quickly follow,” Nick Fabrizio, an associate teaching professor in Cornell’s health policy program, told CNBC. “I do think that’s coming.”
“This is a great step towards trying to address a chronic and serious issue, and for those patients who may feel like they have no hope,” he said.
Roughly 8 to 9 million people in the U.S. are using GLP-1s, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said at a briefing with reporters on Thursday. The added Medicare coverage under the deal could bring in as many as 40 million new eligible patients, and prompt more commercial plans to cover the medicines, he said.
The deals could also address the inability of many patients with limited or no insurance coverage for obesity drugs to access them, by offering the treatments at a discount on the Trump administration’s direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx.gov.
The monthly out-of-pocket cost of existing injections and upcoming pills could range from $50 to $350 starting next year, depending on the dosage and insurance coverage a patient has.
Still, there is a law prohibiting Medicare from covering weight loss drugs, so any changes would have to come from Congress. Eli Lilly’s Ricks told reporters Thursday that for now, the government will launch an initial pilot program in the spring of 2026 under a temporary legal mechanism. It would be voluntary for Medicare prescription drug plans, so “it may be possible that a few plans do not participate, but I would expect almost all do,” he said.
But Ricks said that it will transition into a formal so-called Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation pilot program in 2027, which means it will be mandatory for all Medicare Part D plans.
“So we expect broad coverage in all plans both in 2026 and beyond,” he said.
Medicare coverage could be a sea change
Likely the most notable feature of the deals is Medicare coverage of obesity drugs, as it will allow the treatments to reach new patients in the program and could lead to broader private insurance coverage.
Under the deals, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk agreed to cut the price Medicare and Medicaid pay for GLP-1s to $245 per month. In Medicare specifically, certain patients will pay a copay of $50 per month for all approved uses of injectable and oral GLP-1 drugs, including diabetes and obesity treatment.
But the Trump administration is putting some constraints on which Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible to receive GLP-1s for obesity and cardiovascular and metabolic benefits. People who qualify include patients with a body mass index of 27 or above with prediabetes or established cardiovascular disease; people with a BMI of 30 or more with related health conditions; or those with severe obesity, or a BMI of 35 and above.
GLP-1s for weight loss are approved for a broader population: people who have obesity or are overweight with one related condition. In a note Thursday, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger also said it’s unclear whether the government will allow patients to stay on a GLP-1 for obesity after their BMI levels drop.
Even with those restrictions, “I think in practice, it’s still going to cover a fair number of people,” said Darius Lakdawalla, chief scientific officer at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center.
JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott said the eligibility criteria mean 80% of the obese population in Medicare could receive coverage for GLP-1s, despite the limits.
“Today’s deal will open up meaningful access to obesity drugs,” Schott said in a note about Eli Lilly on Thursday.
Lakdawalla added that while there isn’t clear evidence that private insurers will expand coverage on the heels of government plans, “it’s just optically harder for them to continue to constrain coverage when Medicare and Medicaid are covering them.”
“That’s going to exert some pressure for commercial coverage of these drugs to expand as well,” Lakdawalla said.
Coverage for GLP-1s for obesity has ticked up slightly, but remains sparse: A May survey of more than 300 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found that 36% provided coverage for GLP-1s for both weight loss and diabetes, up from 34% in 2024.
Medicaid, direct-to-consumer offerings could fill gaps
Lakdawalla said the direct-to-consumer offerings under the deal could be useful for people who are underinsured, uninsured or may not have coverage for obesity medicines. Still, it’s unclear how many more patients the drugs will reach due to the offerings.
Both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have introduced lower cost options for their drugs for people paying in cash and purchasing the drugs directly through their websites. But the deals with Trump will give those patients even bigger discounts.
On TrumpRx, the average monthly cost for Wegovy, Zepbound and other injectable GLP-1s will start at $350 and drop to $250 within the next two years, according to senior Trump administration officials. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk both offered some GLP-1s on their direct-to-consumer platforms for up to $450 to $500 per month.
Starting doses of obesity pills from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk — expected to hit the market next year — will be $149 per month on TrumpRx, Medicare and Medicaid.
Eli Lilly on Thursday said it would lower prices by $50 on its own direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, which already offers Zepbound and other drugs at a discount to cash-paying patients. The multidose pen of Zepbound will be available for $299 per month at the lowest dose, with additional doses being priced up to $449 per month.
In terms of Medicaid, Cornell’s Fabrizio said states will likely want to start covering obesity drugs at the lower price point, “but the question is how will they pay for it?”
Around a dozen state Medicaid programs cover obesity drugs, according to 2024 estimates from KFF, a health policy research organization. While GLP-1s offer substantial health benefits to Medicaid beneficiaries, state programs are already facing constrained budgets and administrative demands.
Fabrizio added that raising taxes to cover the drugs “could be a sticky issue.”
Still, JPMorgan’s Schott said offering lower prices to Medicaid programs could lead to a “significant increase in coverage” in that channel, where Zepbound has very limited uptake.
A sign sits outside of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 18, 2026.
Megan Varner | Reuters
One American has tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo in connection to the deadly outbreak in central Africa that global health agencies are racing to contain, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.
The person was exposed as part of their work in Congo, developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday, Dr. Satish Pillai, the CDC’s Ebola response incident manager, told reporters on a call. The CDC and State Department are working to move that individual and six other Americans exposed to Ebola to Germany for treatment, care and monitoring.
But Pillai emphasized that no cases tied to the outbreak have been confirmed in the U.S., and that the overall risk to the American public and travelers remains low.
Still, the CDC also announced on Monday that for the next 30 days, it will restrict entry into the country for people without a U.S. passport who were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the last three weeks.
The update came one day after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola epidemic a “public health emergency of international concern.” The outbreak does not meet the criteria of a “pandemic emergency,” but the WHO warned that the high positivity rate and increasing cases and deaths point toward a “potentially much larger outbreak” than what is being detected and reported.
As of Sunday, more than 300 suspected cases and 88 suspected deaths have been reported, primarily in Congo but also in neighboring Uganda, according to the CDC.
The specific virus involved in this outbreak, called Bundibugyo, has no vaccine or treatment. Historically, that virus has death rates ranging from 25% to 50%, the CDC added.
But agency officials told reporters on Monday that work is underway to develop a monoclonal antibody therapy as a potential treatment for this specific strain of Ebola.
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Britain’s largest ever business delegation has travelled to the US aimed at bolstering transatlantic trade, amid political turmoil at home and tensions over the Iran war, which continues to inflict economic damage.
This week’s mission to Los Angeles, involving more than 200 firms, comes in the wake of the King’s recent state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, which culminated with Donald Trump scrapping tariffs on UK-made whisky, in a major boost to the industry.
The deputation, which was originally to be led by Business Secretary Peter Kyle, is now being headed by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, along with trade minister Blair McDougall.
The so-called Greater Together LA expo will seek to build on the existing commercial partnership between the two nations, which accounts for 430 billion dollars of trade each year, around 1.5 trillion dollars of investment in each others economies and supports more than 2.6 million jobs on either side of the Atlantic.
The event will be co-hosted by Universal Music Group boss Sir Lucian Grainge and former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive, who jointly founded the creative collective LoveFrom.
Speakers include music impresario and Got Talent judge Simon Cowell, singer/songwriter Leona Lewis, designer Sir Paul Smith and astronaut Tim Peake.
It will also be attended by the chief executives of British Airways, News Corp and American Airlines.
Areas to be covered include co-operation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cultural exchange, fintech and scientific innovation.
The event is being held against a background of political upheaval in the UK, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer under pressure to quit following disastrous local election results for Labour, and fractious relations with the White House over the Middle East conflict that saw the US president threaten to change a trade deal with Britain.
While the Government has remained tight-lipped over the potential implications of recent developments for the major business event, insiders have pointed out the close, long-standing UK-US relationship runs deeper than individuals and current rifts.
The lasting partnership built on shared values was highlighted in a video message by the King to be played at the event, which continued the theme of his recent historic address to Congress.
Charles said: “The United Kingdom and the United States share one of the most enduring and consequential relationships in modern history, one forged through decades of collaboration and grounded in a shared belief in the power of enterprise, innovation and human endeavour.
“From our common language and vibrant creative industries to our academic partnerships, scientific collaborations, and technological innovations, our cultures are woven together in ways that are immeasurable, but of enduring value.”
The King added: “These ties are reflected not only on financial balance sheets, but in the living, breathing connections between our people, whose lives and livelihoods are so richly enhanced by them.
“During my visit to the United States the other day I was once again struck by the extraordinary warmth of the American people, by the natural affinity between our countries and by the importance of working together for the benefit of all.
“My conversations with businesses and entrepreneurs throughout that visit also reinforced what I have long believed, that our relationship is not merely a matter of shared history but a living dynamic partnership built on common values of democracy, freedom and opportunity.
“This is a partnership that must be continually renewed and strengthened for future generations.”
Charles went on: “So today, as you come together, I can only encourage you to deepen existing alliances and forge new ones.
“Your decisions, your willingness to think boldly about collaboration, will help create opportunities that benefit communities across the United Kingdom, the United States and beyond.”
Ms Nandy hailed the UK’s creative industries, sporting heritage and tourism as “among our greatest national assets” and said the LA expo provided an “extraordinary opportunity to showcase them on the world stage”.
The Labour Cabinet minister said: “From our music and film sectors to sport and the arts, this delegation will demonstrate the immense cultural and commercial value the UK brings to our partnership with the United States.
“I look forward to deepening those connections and opening new doors for British talent and creativity.”
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